Congress launches protest against demonetisation, workers gherao RBI office in Delhi
Congress workers will gherao 26 RBI offices, including in Delhi, to protest against government's failure to restore normalcy 70 days after demonetisation
In Short
- Protests in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and other RBI offices across India
- Protest against government's failure to restore money supply in 70 days
Upping the ante against the Narendra Modi government on demonetisation, the Congres today launched a nationwide protest outside several Reserve Bank of India offices.
Starting today, Congress workers will gherao 26 RBI offices across the country, including in Delhi, to protest against the RBI's decision to impose a limit on withdrawal of money even after 70 days of demonetisation.
Senior leaders of the Congress are expected to lead the protests that will continue till January 23. "Modi government's and the RBI's decision to not lift the weekly withdrawal restrictions of Rs 24,000 is a treachery with people of India," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The Reserve Bank on Monday doubled the daily ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 but retained the weekly ceiling at Rs 24,000.
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- The protests will be led by Anand Sharma New Delhi, Surjewala in Mumbai, N Sanjeeva Reddy in Kolkata, Salman Khurshid in Patna, Oscar Fernandes in Chennai and Prithviraj Chavan in Bengaluru.
- Protests will be held in poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa as well. While Congress veteran Shakeel Ahmad will lead the gherao in Lucknow, former Union minister Kapil Sabil and KC Venugopal will take to the streets in Dehradun and Panaji respectively.
- "Failure to restore money supply has paralysed India's economy leading to massive loss of jobs and closure of businesses on an everyday basis," Surjewala said.
- Accusing the government of destroying the RBI's autonomy, Surjewala said, "RBI, instead of playing the role of an independent monetary regulator and a key denominator of economic growth, has become a mere post office following the diktats of Modi government like a captive puppet".
- The decision to hold a countrywide protest against the Narendra Modi government's decision to demonetise high-value currency was taken at the Congress' recent Jan Vedna Sammelan where party vice president Rahul Gandhi had said "achche din will come when Congress comes to power again".
- "For the first time in the history, the Prime Minister of India is being ridiculed," the Congress leader had said at the sammelan which was also attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Union minister P Chidambaram.
- Since the November 8 announcement, the Congress, along with other parties such as the Trinamool Congress, has been holding protests against demonetisation. In December last year, Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a joint conference to target the Prime Minister. "If things remain unresolved even after 50 days, will PM Modi take responsibility and resign as the Prime Minister of the country?" Mamata had demanded.
- The government was cornered by the Opposition in the Winter session of Parliament over Prime Minister's alleged silence on the issue in the House.
(with inputs from agencies)
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