Bring note ban ordinance in RS too for transparency: Cong

Congress today dared the government to bring the ordinance on demonetisation for passage in the Rajya Sabha as well if it "believes in transparency".

"We agree it is a Money Bill. But if this government believes in any element of accountability of transparency, they should allow it to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha and voted upon," Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

Asked about Congress's stand on the proposed Bill to replace the ordinance to check a parallel economy being run on junked currency and propose a fine on receiving or keeping demonetised notes besides making it a criminal offence, Sibal claimed the reason why BJP "will not allow" that to happen is because they know that it will be defeated.
 

"This is again another failure of Bharatiya Janata Party when it talks about democracy and adherence to principles. They talk about principles... They know that people are unhappy, they know that across the political spectrum, the parties are unhappy, they know that their own ministers are unhappy, they know their own rank and file is unhappy.

"They know that the people of India are unhappy, but they will not allow discussion to take place in Rajya Sabha. This shows the mindset of this government and the Prime Minister in particular," he said.

Government proposes to approve promulgation of Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016 provisioning a fine of Rs 10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher, on holding of more than 10 banned notes of Rs 1,000 and 500.

Taking a dig at the BJP over the demonetisation issue, Sibal said the ruling party appears to have forgotten note ban "and their cadres have become demoralised due to the bad effect of the decision".

"From demonetisation of the currency to demoralisation of the cadre," Sibal remarked while describing the plight of the party after Modi's announcement on November 8 last.

"I can tell you that they will be wiped out in these assembly polls," he said, claiming that BJP does not stand in chance in either Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand or Punjab.