Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of raking up the AgustaWestland issue to divert attention from the adverse impact of demonetisation.
Mr. Chavan said the note ban was an “unprecedented” decision that had hit more than 100 crore people “in the world” in one stroke.
“The entire country and the Congress support any move to fight black money, terrorism and counterfeit currency. But everyone had believed that with all resources at his disposal, the PM had planned and calibrated every step carefully and that a road map was ready. But, after witnessing the events in the last one month, the exercise seems to have turned out to be an unmitigated disaster,” he said.
Claiming that there was a political motive behind the decision, Mr. Chavan charged the Prime Minister with timing his announcement to help the BJP in the coming Assembly polls in U.P., Punjab and other States.
‘Political vendetta’
The way things were unfolding in the chopper scam case, he said, smacked of a “political vendetta”. Labelling the demonetisation measure as a “terror attack on the economy”, he said speculation was rife about the government considering discontinuing the Rs. 2,000 notes, asking it to make its stand clear in this regard.
