The Congress today said it will stage month-long protests till the end of January to expose the "government's biggest scam" demonetisation, which it claimed had brought miseries to the people, damaged the economy and destroyed jobs.
The party would, in three phases, highlight the "failures" of demonetisation, the "biggest scam" in independent India, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
He added that the first phase has already begun and on January 2-3, all the state Congress leaders would go to the district headquarters and "expose the real face of demonetisation".
On January 3-4, state-level meetings would be called, while on January 6, all the district collectorates would be gheraoed by Congress leaders and workers, Surjewala said.
On January 9, the Mahila Congress cadre, along with the workers of the other wings of the party, will stage countrywide protests, the theme of which would be 'Garib ki jeb khali, bajao thaali', he added.
The first phase of the protests would end on January 10, while the next two phases would be over by January end, Surjewala said.
He alleged that demonetisation had given birth to "new black markets".
"One market is to convert old notes into new notes for commissions ranging from 20 to 30 per cent which is happening with tacit and at times, active complicity of the government and its officials as various raids have exposed," the Congress spokesperson said.
He alleged that "another black market was selling new currency notes" while the ordinary people struggled for cash.
The Congress also launched a booklet on the occasion, titled 'Arth-quake: 8/11 Attack on India's Economy', in which the party has come down heavily on demonetisation.
Terming demonetisation as "Modi's curse", Surjewala
alleged that it had affected farmers, labourers, the common people and only "a few" close to the prime minister.
"That is why he (Modi) said in an interview yesterday that the government will use the money deposited in people's accounts for infrastructure development and strengthening of the banking system. This means, the money belongs to the people, but the government will play with it," he said.
The Congress leader claimed that the prime minister's voice was "lacking in credibility" and the government had made different statements at different times on demonetisation.
"Even after 50 days, a new 'tughlaqi' diktat has been issued that the (weekly) withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 would continue," he claimed.
Referring to a couplet in the Tulsidas Ramayan about honouring one's words, Surjewala alleged that Modi believed in "not living up to what he says".
Describing demonetisation as a "Modi-made disaster", Congress spokesperson MV Rajeev Gowda said the government seemed unable to understand the complexities of the Indian economy.
He claimed that 2017 would witness a drop in all the economic indicators and by "hitting" sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and real estate, the government had given rise to a situation where no job will be created, belying the expectations of the youth.
Gowda alleged that exposes had indicated that BJP leaders had prior information about demonetisation and raised questions about alleged deposits in a bank in which BJP chief Amit Shah is reportedly a director.
He also took a dig at the government for the "circus" of announcements.
In the booklet released today, the Congress demanded that restrictions on withdrawals from bank accounts be lifted and the people be given a special 18 per cent interest till it was done.
It also demanded that the prices of foodgrains under the PDS system be halved, a special one-time bonus of 20 per cent above the minimum support price for Rabi crops, Rs 25,000 be deposited in the accounts of a woman each in BPL families, tax rebates and an increase in the number of MGNREGA work days.
