Demonetisation will turn out to be a big scam: Rahul attacks PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the Narendra Modi government's move to demonetise the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes would turn out to be a "big scam."
Rahul also claimed that even before the Prime Minister announced the move last week, there were images of Bharatiya Janata Party members holding stacks of the new Rs 2000 notes on the Internet.
"How can one explain the BJP people in West Bengal depositing crores in high-denomination notes just before PM's announcement on November 8?" Rahul asked.
"BJP workers were seen holding up bundles of the new Rs 2000 notes, as seen from images on the Internet, before Modi announced this decision," he added.
"This move by the Modi government will turn out to be a big scam," Rahul said.
Rahul asked why the government hadn't taken action against those who've allegedly hoarded large amounts of unaccounted wealth.
"The big black money players have been allowed to go scott-free by (the) PM. Mallaya and Lalit Modi are sitting abroad," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
"Do you see any black money players in (the) bank lines? Its only farmers, government servants and (the) common man," he added.
Rahul on Tuesday also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public statements on demonetisation, saying that he should decide if he wants to laugh or cry.
"18 to 20 people died in queues outside banks...ATMs and PM Modi was laughing....(a) couple of days back, (the) PM was laughing in his speech, then next day he was crying. He should decide what he wants to do," Rahul was quoted as saying by agencies.
He was apparently referring to speeches made by the Prime Minister earlier this week in Japan, and Goa.
Rahul also alleged that the Prime Minister had alerted his partymen before announcing his government's move. However, ironically, he also said he didn't think Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley knew about the decision beforehand.
In addition, Rahul Gandhi said demonetisation had "resulted in massive inconvenience for the people," and "needed to be sorted out as soon as possible."
He said economists he had spoken to - including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - had told him that there was no economic rationale behind the decision, and that it was based on a political calculation. The decision, Rahul alleged, hadn't been thought through, and was based on "one person's thinking."
Rahul's remarks came on a day when Ghulam Nabi Azad, a Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that some individuals - including some BJP leaders - had been informed before hand about demonetisation, and that this was probably the "biggest scam."
Azad made these allegations at an all-party meet which was attended by PM Modi . He added that the Opposition would be united "come what may" and raise issues together during the Parliament's winter session, which begins tomorrow.
Earlier today, top Congress leaders opined at a meeting chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi that both houses of the Parliament should discuss the government's implementation of its ban, as well as the alleged leakage of the news ahead of the official announcement made last Tuesday.
Inputs from agencies