Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan today hit out at Uddhav Thackeray for criticising the Centre's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, saying that the Shiv Sena supremo too was "responsible for the misery of the common man".
"Uddhav Thackeray's criticism has no meaning. He is part of the government and hence, responsible for the misery of the common man," he told reporters here.
Chavan alleged that the decision to demonetise high-value currency notes was taken "in a hasty manner and without giving it a proper thought".
"Adequate alternative measures were not taken before making this announcement," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
He claimed that two persons had died due to "stress and tension" caused by the "sudden" move to scrap the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and blamed the Centre for the deaths.
Earlier in the day, four NCP corporators from Parbhani Municipal Council joined the Congress in Chavan's presence.
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Chavan said rural economy, small traders, daily wage workers, farmers and those who depend on farming activities, small and medium industries, "all have been ruined".
He added: "(The) time has come to ask the government as what has been the end result of the exercise. Has any of the three objectives spelt out in his (Modi's) November 8 address been achieved?
"The inept handling, lack of clear command, duality of responsibility between Finance Ministry and RBI has landed (the country) in a complete fiasco. Who is responsible for this mess? We demand that accountability must be fixed if PM was advised by a few people. Who are these people who are in the decision-making command and what role did the new RBI Governor play?"
The Congress leader said serious questions have arisen which is why his party has sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the scrapping of the high-value notes.
"The Prime Minister owes it to the nation to fix accountability for this mess and also to take us into confidence as to what objectives have been met by this measure," he said.
Chavan also asked whether the move has stopped terrorism.
He said instances of stone-pelting in Kashmir had already fallen to a handful of cases prior to demonetisation as compared to July when such incidents were many.
"Instances of terrorism has continued. Our brave jawans are being martyred. Separatist activities usually are suspended during winters and sub-zero temperatures. It has nothing to do with demonetisation.
"It is clear that the Pak terrorism and fake currency argument was only used to built up a nationalistic fervour," the Congress leader alleged.
Chavan said no action has been taken on names revealed in the Panama Papers even as Pakistan government has started prosecuting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"Why is there no action against political donations and funding of elections?" he asked.
The government has not given a logical explanation on the introduction of Rs 2,000 note as it is 15 per cent smaller than old Rs 1,000 note, Chavan said and sought to know why the new Rs 500 notes were not printed adequately.
"It (the Rs 2,000 note) is a godsend opportunity for people to hoard black money. It is possible to store Rs 2.2 crore in the same space as Rs 1 crore of old Rs 1,000 note," said Chavan, who also pointed out reports of counterfeit notes dispensed from an ATM of a reputed bank.
Citing a report from the Economist, he said 98 per cent of all transactions in India are in cash while in China, it is 90 per cent and in Brazil, it is 80 per cent.
Raising doubts over government's claims on cashless economy, he said that in a recent reply in Lok Sabha it is found only 12,000 villages have internet connectivity through Fibre Optic Cable.
He also said GDP growth rate will be adversely affected by as high as 2 per cent, according to some estimates, which will hurt everyone. He added the informal sector and rural economy have been badly hit.
