Demonetisation will meet fate of Cong's 'Nasbandi' programme, says Lalu Prasad

RJD president Lalu Prasad said on Saturday demonetisation would meet the fate of 'Nasbandi' of the Congress rule and announced protest across Bihar on December 28.

During a day-long meeting of RJD MPs, ministers, legislators and office-bearers, Prasad and other leaders of the party highlighted people's woes following the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

Addressing the RJD leaders, Prasad criticised the move and said, "It will meet the fate of 'nasbandi' (forced sterlisation) during the Congress rule in the past."

Prasad and his party have been on the forefront of protest against the demonetisation decision inside and outside Parliament. Several prominent RJD leaders had shared dais with TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee during her demonstration against demonetisation in Patna on November 30, though Prasad himself was not present.

Asked how he saw Nitish Kumar getting praise from Centre on demonetisation, Prasad, whose RJD is a partner in the grand alliance government, said, "Nitish Kumar's approach is similar to our's...all of us are standing together against hardship caused to masses due to high-value currency invalidation."

Nitish Kumar and his party JD(U), which has supported demonetisation, had kept away from Banerjee's demonstration. Economist Mohan Guruswamy, who was advisor in the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was also invited to speak on adverse impact of demonetisation.

Guruswamy gave a detailed slide presentation with the help of data and charts to tell RJD leaders how demonetisation would cause a drop of 2.5% in the country's GDP by the end of the current fiscal.

In the meeting Prasad, Tejaswi Yadav, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who is the finance minister in the Nitish Kumar government, and a host of senior leaders spke on the woes of poor people and farmers standing outside banks and ATMs for withdrawal of cash. Prasad said, "After the December-28 dharna, leaders of all the parties, national as well regional, would be invited to a rally later in Patna." He said the date of the rally would be announced later.