Parliament set to witness furore over note ban

With frustration over the cash crunch mounting, Parliament looks set to witness a firestorm of protest on the issue of demonetisation when it meets for the winter session on Wednesday, with a joint opposition having readied itself to put it on the mat.

Though Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress failed to build a consensus on her party’s proposed to march to Rashtrapati Bhawan on Wednesday itself to protest demonetisation of high-value currency notes, 13 parties led by main opposition Congress resolved to vigorously raise the issue of hardship faced by the common people due to the exercise aimed at squeezing out black money from the system.

As ATMs struggled in disgorging cash and banks appeared crumbling under pressure due to demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bills, a Congress-led opposition went into a huddle to devise ways to pin down the government on the issue.

At a meeting of 13 opposition parties including arch rivals TMC and Communist Party of India-Marxist, besides Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal-United and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, opposition leaders unanimously concluded that it was too early to visit the President on the issue which must first be raised adequately in parliamentary forums.

An all-party meeting, which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saw him seek the opposition’s cooperation for demonetisation exercise aimed at tackling black money, counterfeit currency notes and terror funding, but his unrelenting rivals picked holes in it and accused him of not adhering to the principle of confidentiality and leaking information about the impending action.

Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, however, made it clear after the all-party meeting that his party was not in favour of a roll back of demonetisation.    

“It is a big scam, perhaps the biggest. There was selective leak of information, many in the Bharatiya Janata Party and even others knew about it (demonetisation) beforehand. We will raise the issue in Parliament... There should be an inquiry... who should hold the inquiry should be decided.

“Some say this is an economic surgical strike before the elections (in some states including Uttar Pradesh) aimed at finishing rivals and saving the ruling party (BJP),” Azad said after the meeting.

About Mamata Banerjee deciding to go ahead with her proposed march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, Azad said, she had sought an appointment with the President as a chief minister.

“She is within her right to go to the President alone, but when we go to him together, TMC will be a part of it.”

“We have been against black money, we are against black money and we shall be against black money. We have been criticising the government for its failure to bring back black money stashed abroad. But today, people are dying while standing in queues, workers, farmers have no money to pay their bills at hospitals. People from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari are harassed,” he said.         

Various parties have separately given adjournment notices in Lok Sabha and for suspension of proceedings in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue and highlight the plight of the common man.

Meanwhile, the Delhi assembly passed a resolution demanding a roll back of the demonetisation exercise.

As the government came under attack, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said a revolutionary or transformative step may have initial hiccups, but it gives long-term gains.

He said the demonetisation of higher currency notes had to be implemented with all secrecy as otherwise the people would have “taken care of” their ill-gotten wealth.

“There is need for ending parallel economy. Our neighbour is hiding, abetting, funding and training terrorists. There is 20 lakh crore of rupees of counterfeit currency in India which is weakening our economy. There are also arm dealers, smugglers...,” he said, addressing a legislators’ workshop in Delhi on infrastructure in the states.

The move will also curb Maoist operations as they “thrive” on black money.

Hitting out at the opposition, BJP said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was working to curb black money and corruption with his demonetisation exercise, rival parties had “ganged up” against him.

Terming demonetisation as a ‘surgical strike’ on black money, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma claimed that the general public is in the support of the move and now it has taken a shape of “people’s movement”.

He added that despite difficulties, the common man is supporting the decision.

Mamata Banerjee, however, unleashed a tirade against the government on the issue, saying the people have been reduced to “beggars” after having to stand in long queues to withdraw their own hard earned money.

“Tomorrow I am meeting the President on demonetisation issue. I will be meeting him with 40 of my MPs. I have spoken to various political parties. I have spoken to Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal.

“If they want to join me, it is good. If not, then I will go alone with my MPs. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah is likely to join me,” Banerjee told reporters at Kolkata airport before leaving for New Delhi.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram of Congress ridiculed the demonetisation move, saying banks doling out cash to citizens was “proof” that ‘achhe din’ have arrived.

In a series of tweets, the senior Congress leader also took a dig at the Modi government on the way it was implementing the scheme, remarking that “millions of working people standing in queue. Long live productivity”.

Shiv Sena, a National Democratic Alliance constituent which has been targeting the Modi government on demonetisation, said party leader Uddhav Thackeray was in touch with Mamata Banerjee on the issue.

“Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav ji are in touch. This is not a political issue but something which concerns people. Shiv Sena will do whatever it can to ease the hardship of people,” its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.

In a sarcastic take on the emotional pitch of Modi over demonetisation, Shiv Sena said his decision to scrap high value currency notes would not put his life in danger unlike his predecessors Indira and Rajiv Gandhi who were assassinated while fighting for greater goals of the country.

Making an emotional appeal at a function in Goa on November 13, Modi had said that there were certain forces up against him that may not let him live and destroy him completely due to his decision on demonetisation and asserted that he was ready to face any consequence but would not get bogged down even if he was burnt alive.

“PM Modi is under a security which is impregnable where even a mosquito cannot bite him. Lives have been sacrificed by those innumerable freedom fighters for the nation. (Former PM) Indira Gandhi had waged a war against Khalistani anti-nationals, for which she paid by sacrificing her life,” the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, edited by Raut.

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, in a controversial take on demonetisation said economists were of the opinion that black money helped the Indian economy in times of global recession.

“I am very clear on this... black money should not be generated. Economic experts say the magnitude of the global economic crisis at times is not felt in India because of strong (parallel) economy of black money,” he said in Lucknow.

IMAGE: Opposition leaders discuss strategy ahead winter session of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: Shirish Shete/PTI Photo