'No issue with cash'

With the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes during the wedding season, a senior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet advised putting cheques into the shagun (gift) envelopes instead of currency notes. He quipped that most political parties could nominate farmers as candidates in the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab Assembly elections next year, as agriculture income is tax-free. “Money will not be an issue in the elections if the parties choose to field farmers as candidates,” he said. “They would not have an issue with cash at all.”