Rahul Gandhi today termed as "foolish" the demonetisation decision as opposition parties stepped up their attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the move, with Congress likening him to Roman emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burnt.
On a day when opposition parties observed completion of one month of demonetisation as "Black Day", Congress said the move was implemented without any application of mind as it has put the public to "great hardships".
"There is a saying, Nero fiddled while Rome burned. As the story goes, in the time of a crisis, the Roman Emperor was busy playing the violin. He was both whimsical and ineffectual when Rome needed him the most.
"It has been a month since that fateful day when Modi decided that 86 per cent of the cash in the economy was illegal. Since then, the entire nation has been put through great hardships, whose cost in terms of human lives has been significant", the Congress said.
The Congress vice president, who led the protest outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue this morning said, "This is not a bold decision, it is a foolish decision which has been taken without any due consideration. It has devastated the poor, farmers and daily wage workers."
Gandhi also said, "Demonetisation - a goalless draw" and that "PayTM means Pay To Modi, i.E a few people should get maximum benefit from every single transaction".
He said the Prime Minister is changing his narrative on Demonetisation. "PM is running from one thing to another: black money to counterfeit to cashless. He jumped from black money to terrorism to counterfeit currency and now to cashless economy. We won't let him run inside the House."
Gandhi said,"We want to have a discussion (in Parliament). We want a vote (in Parliament). The government doesn't."
Congress party senior spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "There was no application of mind. It was just merely an announcement and that too an announcement without thinking and without visualising what type of disaster ultimately it will lead to."
Azad said it has been one month since Modi announced his demonetisation scheme
"In the last month we have seen that this scheme as failed and has been a total disaster. We are all against Black Money. But, this was an announcement without thinking nor visualising the disaster it would make," he said.
The Congress leader claimed reports have already started coming that shows that lakhs of jobs are being lost as 86 pc of the salaries paid in India are in cash.
"There was selective leakage of the info to BJP leaders. BJP leaders have been purchasing land just prior to Demonetisation.
"This measure has not stopped terrorism. Reports have shown that terrorists captured had new currency," he said.
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Azad alleged that government brought this scheme for the devastation and destruction of the poor, farmers, small businessmen, housewives, labourers as there have job losses on a large scale.
"This scheme has brought destruction and devastation ... people have lost jobs on a large scale due to wrong policies of the government," he said.
Azad also alleged that the demonetisation decision was "selectively leaked" to BJP leaders and said it was the "biggest scam" in the country.
"There was selective leakage of the info to BJP leaders. BJP leaders have been purchasing land just prior to demonetisation. BJP has been on a purchasing spree in Bihar and Odisha for party offices. This is the biggest scam in the country," he claimed.
He claimed that more than 100 deaths were reported in the country due to the decision, with many dying standing in queues and many others died in hospitals after they refused to accept their money.
"Is the Government not responsible? They denied the people access to their own hard earned money. More than 100 people have died.
"A paucity of funds means that daily wage labourers are not getting paid. Reports have already started coming which has shown that lakhs of jobs are being lost," he said.
Azad said banks do not have money and neither have ATMs and common people are suffering, but alleged that many people are getting the money converted by paying off 20, 30 or 40 per cent commission.
"Who is supplying the money to them. Why the government is not catching them, when we are hearing that people are getting their black money converted. Is the government involved in this parallel business, as banks are not having money but middlemen have," he said.
"A study has shown that the negative impact of this decision is to the tune of Rs 1.28 lakh crore to the GDP," he claimed.
Azad also said that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) with 25 crore accounts received only about Rs 8,000 crore of fresh currency, till November 30, which amounts to each account holder getting a paltry Rs 350.
"We were told that we would have to bear with the Government for only a few days. But, as the extent of the pain across the nation became apparent, Modi began to change the rules around demonetisation. It has been a month and there is still not enough money in the banks. Rules have been changed more than 120 times", the Congres website said.
