On 5 years of demonetisation, TMC MP says only Mamata got it spot on

In the tweets, Banerjee had hit out at the PM who she said could not bring back the promised black money from abroad from the rich, and hence, “a drama to divert his failure”.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on Monday said it was only Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who had accurately called out the decision of the Narendra Modi government on demonetisation.

A file photo of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Sharing a series of tweets that Banerjee had written five years ago hours on this day after Modi announced the government’s decision to ban all high-denomination currency notes, O’Brien said “only the TMC supremo” got it spot on” in calling out “the draconian decision”.

In the tweets, Banerjee had hit out at the PM who she said could not bring back the promised black money from abroad from the rich, and hence, “a drama to divert his failure”.

Calling it a “financial chaos and disaster let loose on the common people of India”, the TMC supremo said she wanted to know from the PM how daily wagers, who may have received their week’s hard-earned pay in one ₹500 note, would buy not essentials like rice and flour from the next day.

She further stated that while she was strongly against black money and corruption, she was deeply concerned about common people, small traders.

The TMC MP also shared a clipping of Banerjee visiting the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and parliamentarians from the Shiv Sena and her own party on November 16, 2016, to register her protest against the Modi government’s move.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also termed the demonetisation move a "disaster" and asked if the step had been successful, why had not corruption ended and black money returned to the country.

Using the hashtag 'DemonetisationDisaster', Vadra wrote on Twitter in Hindi, “If 'notebandi (demonetisation) was successful, why hasn't corruption ended? Why hasn't black money come back? Why hasn't the economy gone cashless? Why hasn't terrorism been hit? Why hasn't price rise been reined in?"

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said demonetisation "decimated the informal sector". "Economy into a tailspin, the poorest hurt. Informal sector decimated. No black money recovered, but rich got richer. Cash in the economy is the highest ever now! This govt must bear responsibility for pushing India downhill, just for one man’s whim," he said in a tweet.