Demonetisation 2nd anniversary: Opposition slams democracy’s ‘black day’

New Delhi, Nov 8: On the second anniversary of demonetisation Thursday, the Congress led the charge in criticising the note ban exercise and found support in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said the "scars and wounds" caused by demonetisation were getting more visible with time, while former finance minister Chidambaram called the notes ban exercise a money laundering scheme.

On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a television broadcast announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee notes.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday declined to reveal the cost incurred on shredding banned currency notes worth Rs 15,31,073 crore which returned to banks following note ban. To a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the RBI said the process of destruction of banned notes got over in March 2018.

Chidambaram calls demonetisation a 'money laundering' scheme

Leading the Congress charge against demonetisation on its second anniversary, former finance minister Chidambaram called the notes ban exercise a money laundering scheme. The former Union minister further said that PM Narendra Modi's promise if "acchhe din" was in shambles as none of the objectives of demonetisation materialised. "GST collections, as well as direct tax collections, are short of estimate. The government will not be able to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3% for 2019," he said at a press conference.

Modi single-handedly destroyed economy, lives and livelihoods: Sitaram Yechury

Sitaram Yechury said, "They want you to forget that Rs 15 lakh for every Indian was promised by Modi. It was exactly five years ago. Those who got Rs 1,50,000 lakhs are the ones who looted the banks and then were allowed to scoot from India."

Notes ban self inflicted wound, its reason still mystery: Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned the rationale behind the Modi government's note ban move and termed it as "a self inflicted deep wound" on the Indian economy.

"Though the list of financial scams of Modi govt is endless, demonetisation was a self inflicted deep wound on Indian economy which even two years later remains a mystery why the country was pushed into such a disaster ?"

Demonetisation, a man made disaster: Stalin

In a tweet M K Stalin termed the demonetisation as "one man made disaster for India".

Demonetisation succeeded in destroying employment, markets: Chandrababu Naidu

"2 yrs after Demonetisation Disaster, the country still hasn't overcome the economic setback caused by hasty decisions of BJP govt. Implemented in the name of destroying black money, demonetization succeeded in destroying employment, markets, business, liquidity and economic growth, Naidu said.

Mamata calls it a black day

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that demonetisation was a "disaster"for the country on its second anniversary.

The chief minister said she had been describing it as a"dark day" since demonetisation was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.

"#DarkDay Today is the second anniversary of#DeMonetisation disaster. From the moment it was announced I said so," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle.