Calling on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to pay no heed to the barrage of attack by the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday ordered the government to go full ahead with demonetisation and ruled out any chance whatsoever of rolling back the scheme.
According to sources, the Prime Minister who was chairing the BJP Parliamentary Party executive meeting, told the attendees to not buckle under the opposition's pressure and go ahead with the Centre's policy.
Stating that the opposition was hard at work to sabotage the process of demonetisation, the Prime Minister assured that the nation has welcomed the step.
The Prime Minister's assertion comes in the wake of the all out attack launched by the opposition today, as the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) joined forces in tearing down the scheme of demonetisation.
Earlier today, Mayawati asserted that people, who were expecting good days, are now facing bad days because of the government's strange decision to ban high denomination notes.
Attempting to reach out to the poor and middle class ahead of next year's assembly polls, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that small and medium businesses have shut down courtesy demonetisation.
"In the name of demonetisation, the common people are being made to suffer. Modi ji has brought miseries and pain for the poor which is extremely wrong. I would like to ask why people of the nation are being troubled like this," said Mayawati.
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"The economic affairs of the nation has been hampered by this decision, crores of small and medium scale businesses have been shut in the wake of demonetisation. Its seems like a country wide shutdown is being observed. The people, who were expecting 'achhe din', are now facing 'bure din' and people of the nation want freedom from all this," she added.
On the other hand, holding the Prime Minister responsible for the present cash crunch, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Centre was unprepared in dealing with the crisis.
"Today Centre announced that Indian Air Force will be used to carry and distribute currency notes, it shows that government did not have any game plane to tackle the crisis, government was unprepared in executing its plan, it shows that the government is in a precarious situation," Kejriwal said.
He said that despite Prime Minister Modi's claim that the demonitisation drive would bring sleepless nights to the rich, the aam aadmi (common man), instead, are having sleepless nights standing outside the ATMs.
Branding the Prime Minister as a "habitual abuser", the Congress said that arrogance of power should not surpass the problems faced by people.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala lashed out at the Prime Minister and said that it has become his "character and style" to taunt others.
"The Prime Minister is a habitual abuser himself. We respect the Prime Minister and the office he holds. Whatever abuses he may heap, which he continues to do every day on the leaders of the opposition parties, let him mock the entire country. The Prime Minister mocks the entire nation. The other day, he was sitting in Japan and mocked everybody who was getting married, who were not able to arrange their marriages. Such has become the character and style of this minister," Surjewala said.
Prime Minister Modi, who has drawn sharp flak from a united opposition post his decision to scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes, urged all to support his decision and bless him in his war against black or undeclared money.
He invoked the nation's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 127th birth anniversary to take potshots at the Congress for raising objection to his firm decision.
"Pandit Nehru, your family and party abuse me, but I am here on November 14, your birthday, to complete work left undone from your time," Prime Minister Modi said.
"There are some political parties that are worried over currency ban. Those against me are strong people. But I will not be scared of them. I will not leave the path of truth and integrity. Some people never say anything on your face, but behind your back they poke other people to oppose and go against you," he added while addressing a mega rally in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
On Sunday night, Prime Minister Modi held a meeting at his residence with senior ministers past Sunday to review demonetisation and its impact.
After a review by the Finance Ministry, the limit of old and now defunct 500 and 1000 rupee notes that can be exchanged for freshly minted 2000 rupees and new 500 rupee notes was increased from 4000 rupees to 4500 rupees per day.
Cash withdrawal limit at ATMs was hiked to 2,500 rupees from 2,000 rupees a day. The weekly limit of 20,000 rupees for withdrawal from bank counters has been increased to 24,000 rupees.