Demonetisation anniversary highlights: PM Modi tweets benefits of note ban, Rahul Gandhi calls it a tragedy

Follow our live updates as the BJP and the Congress get ready for a showdown, arguing their respective cases on the note ban.

The BJP and the Congress-led opposition will face off over demonetisation when the ruling party observes ‘anti-black money day’ and the latter a ‘black day’ to mark the first anniversary of the announcement of the exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress workers stage a protest against the BJP government on the eve of the first anniversary of 'demonetisation' in Mulund, Mumbai.(PTI Photo)

BJP leaders, including many Union ministers, will fan out across the country to highlight the “benefits” of demonetisation. on the first anniversary of the exercise.

Calling the measure “anti-people”, the Congress and several opposition parties will hold protests against note ban in several parts of the country.

Unfazed by the opposition criticism, the BJP has claimed demonetisation led to a cleaner economy.

Below are the highlights:

1.33pm: “Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has tweeted against demonetisation by citing Nand Lal’s example (the ex-serviceman who became the face of India’s cash crunch woes) but Nand Lal has stated on record he supports PM Modi,” ANI quotes Ravi Shankar Prasad as saying.

11.25am: Fraudulent exchange of old currency notes took place at commercial and co-operative banks in 59 cases, post offices in 18 cases, railways in five cases and one case involved insurance department, says CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal.

11.22am: CBI has arrested 21 public servants and 26 private persons.

11.20am: CBI registered 77 cases and seven preliminary enquires related to illegal exchange of demonetised currency post demonetisation, says spokesperson Abhishek Dayal. The amount involved in these cases is around Rs 395 crore. CBI acted on more than 500 references received from general public and other agencies. It also conducted joint checks on banks and other financial institutions

10.56am: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram says millions of people ‘suffered’ and no one can deny that lives and jobs were lost due to demonetisation.

10.53am: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee describes demonetisation as ‘DeMoDisaster’, tweets blog post on the same.

10.25am: “Biggest achievement is that terrorism has been badly hit and the stone pelters which were in thousands have reduced because their cash flow has been cut,” ANI quotes defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman as saying.

8:49am: Demonetisation is a tragedy. We stand with millions of honest Indians, whose lives & livelihoods were destroyed by PM’s thoughtless act, tweets Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi

8:35am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets a video explaining benefits of demonetisation

Here are the benefits of demonetisation, encapsulated in this short film. Have a look. #AntiBlackMoneyDay pic.twitter.com/rPmGUYnTzI

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 8, 2017

8:34am: I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money, tweets PM Modi

8:32am: Congress workers in Chhattisgarh organise a marathon to observe ‘black day’ on first anniversary of note ban (ANI Photo)

8:30am: On Tuesday, charges flew thick and fast between the government and the main opposition party over what demonetisation had achieved for the economy. In a blog, finance minister Arun Jaitley called the move an “ethical drive” that had rooted out corruption from the economy. Shortly after, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responded, saying the scrapping of 500-and 1000-rupee currency bills was a reckless step that helped “organised loot and legalised plunder”.