RBI fake currency report spurs Derek O'Brien's demonetisation swipe at PM Modi

Demonetisation: Derek O'Brien tweeted on demonetization last year too, emphasising that Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee had predicted the chaos.

Published on: May 29, 2022, 13:26:29 IST

By HT News Desk

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Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien took a swipe at prime minister Narendra Modi Sunday over a Reserve Bank of India report that said fake ₹2000 currency notes had increased by 54 per cent between 2020/21 and 2021/22. The report said fake ₹500 notes had increased by 102 per cent in the same period. Derek O'Brien ripped into claims made by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party when it announced demonetisation - that it would eliminate fake currency.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien (File) (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

"Namaskar Mr PM Narendra Modi... DEMONETIZATION? Remember? And how (Bengal chief minister and Trinamool boss) Mamata Banerjee swiftly took you on? How you promised the nation Demo would WIPE OUT ALL COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY..."

"Here's the latest RBI report pointing out huge increase in counterfeit notes," the Trinamool leader said, attaching a info-graphic of the RBI report's findings.

The RBI had said: "Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 16.4 per cent, 16.5 per cent, 11.7 per cent, 101.9 per cent and 54.6 per cent in the counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹200, ₹500 (new design) and ₹2000, respectively."

Derek O'Brien had tweeted on this subject last year too, underlining that Mamata Banerjee had correctly criticised the central government's decision.

He had shared tweets posted by her in November 2016 that warned of “financial chaos" and that lakhs and lakhs of daily wagers would be the worst affected.

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

Six years ago the Modi government had, overnight, demonetised ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes and announced new ₹500 note and a ₹2000 note. The PM said the ban would reduce cash transactions to crack down on black money and corruption, but opposition leaders and financial experts warned of disaster.

READ: Demonetisation - Understanding political impact of note ban in 2021

However, according to the RBI, the total value of currency notes in circulation of all denominations rose to ₹31.05 lakh crore at the end of March this year from ₹28.27 lakh crore at the end of March 2021.

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