A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the 2016 demonetisation helped the fight against black money, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday took a dig at Mr. Modi and asked him to identify the colour of “crores of rupees with which BJP buys MLAs in several States”.
To mark the fourth anniversary of demonetisation, Mr. Modi on Sunday had tweeted that the note ban helped in curbing black money, counterfeit notes, improving tax compliance and formalisation of the economy.
“On the day when Mr. Biden called for an end to DEMONISATION, Mr. Modi celebrated DEMONETISATION. According to PM, demonetisation slayed the demons of corruption and black money. What is the colour of the crores of rupees spent by the BJP in purchasing MLAs in several States? If the demon of corruption has been slayed, are there no cases of corruption after November 8, 2016?” asked Mr. Chidambaram on Twitter.
Also read | Demonetisation ‘destroyed’ economy, helped few crony capitalists, alleges Rahul
The tweets were a reaction to the Prime Minister’s Sunday tweet with the hashtag #DemolishingCorruption.
“CEA [Chief Economic Advisor] said that non-profit and non-corporate entities [tax evaders] deposited 16.2%. of the total cash returned after demonetisation. He should also tell us how much of that amount was confiscated as black money? We know the answer: ZERO”, said the former Finance Minister.
The Congress observed “Vishwasghaat Diwas” (Betrayal Day) to mark the fourth anniversary of the note ban and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, in a video, claimed the move as one that “destroyed India’s Economy”.
