A day after making critical remarks on note ban, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said his comments were "distorted" but acknowledged that currency problems continued even as senior ally BJP played down the TDP chief's criticism.
After supporting demonetisation initially, Naidu yesterday appeared to be having a second thought, saying this is not what they wished for and that the solution to problems due to the note ban remained elusive even after 40 days.
Naidu today said he has been supporting demonetisation, but added that problems arising out of the exercise "continue" as "we are going (about them) in a routine manner".
"We have to take an innovative approach," he said, claiming that his remarks were "distorted by some".
Naidu heads the panel set up by the Centre to look into issues arising from demonetisation. His party--TDP--is part of the NDA government.
The 13-member committee would meet again on December 28 to work out solutions to the ongoing problem, he said.
"I spoke to (NITI Aayog CEO) Amitabh Kant this morning and asked him to convene the meeting," he said.
BJP while playing down the criticism by Naidu on the roll out of demonetisation, said the Chief Minister has not said anything different from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders about difficulties being faced by people.
"What he is saying is nothing different from what Modi said that there should be least difficulty to the common man. He indicated to the government for expediting money circulation," its National Secretary and Andhra in-charge Sidharth Nath Singh told reporters in Delhi.
The concerns he has raised about difficulties being faced by people is quite natural and it is something BJP leaders have also talked about, he added.
Asked about Naidu's denouncement of people handling the exercise, he said what the Andhra Chief Minister has said is also being "grossly misreported".
Naidu today said he had sought a ban on high denomination notes "long ago" and written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking abolition of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes after the recent Income Disclosure Scheme.
"I have supported this (demonetisation) concept," he said, inaugurating a two-day conference of district Collectors in Vijayawada.
Addressing a workshop of Telugu Desam MPs, legislators and leaders here yesterday, he had said, "Demonetisation was not our wish but it happened. More than 40 days after demonetisation, there are still a lot of problems but yet there appears to be no solution."
"I am spending two hours daily to ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem," he had said.
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In a statement issued later by the Andhra Pradesh government, Naidu refuted reports that he was against demonetisation and said he had only commented on the "lapses" in its implementation.
He said that it is very painful to see the reports of old people collapsing while waiting at ATM counters. He said the people have been suffering even after more than one month due to non-availability of currency notes.
He said that he repeatedly appealed to RBI and local bankers to adopt a humanitarian approach to prevent inconvenience to people by delivering more number of small currency notes to rural areas.
He said that he is spending more than three to four hours a day for monitoring the cash distribution system and asked the officials to think innovatively to address the crisis.
Stating that cashless and digital banking transaction is the only alternative to end the crisis, Naidu asked officials to encourage urban people to switch over to mobile banking transactions and distribute the available small currency to farmers in rural areas to carry out agricultural operations for the current Rabi season.
He said that cashless transactions were successfully implemented in all 29,000 fair price shops in the state and the dealers were appointed as banking correspondents to solve currency problem in rural areas.
