Poor think rich evade taxes, so supported note ban: Jaitley

FM says India's public opinion will oppose state funding of elections

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the poor supported the note ban because of a widespread perception that the rich evaded taxes and this was an effort to redistribute wealth. 

Addressing a discussion on election campaign financing on Wednesday, organised by the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the FM also disagreed that the PM’s “garib kalyan” programme was similar to Indira Gandhi’s “garibi hatao”. He said the 1971 programme did not envisage increasing productivity and was not in the national interest. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, on November 8, announced the demonetisation of the old ~1,000 and ~500 notes. If the