RBI Withdraws Rs 2,000 Notes: What The Opposition Leaders Have Said So Far

Opposition leaders on Friday hit out at the government after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation but gave public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.

However, the Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender till September 30.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that a few weeks after demonetisation, the government and the RBI were forced to re-introduce the Rs 500 note and he will not be surprised if the Centre re-introduces the Rs 1,000 note as well.

In a tweet, Chidambaram said, "As expected, the government/RBI have withdrawn the Rs 2,000 note and given time until September 30 to exchange the notes. The Rs 2,000 note is hardly a popular medium of exchange. We said this in November 2016 and we have been proved correct.''

''The Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid" to cover up the "foolish decision" of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes which were popular and widely exchanged currencies, the former finance minister said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said,''Typical of our self-styled Vishwaguru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous 'Tughlaqi firman' of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn.''

Congress MP Manickam Tagore tweeted, "Second Demo disaster starts .. M = Madness."

Maharashtra's opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) slammed the move to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes by September 30 as "an admission of failure" by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.

Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said that all the tall claims of the BJP in November 2016 that black money, terrorism, etc will end with the demonetisation of the erstwhile Rs 500-Rs 1000 currency note would end, have been proved hollow. "Instead, they introduced Rs 2000 denomination currency notes and now these are also being taken off circulation. It's a clear admission of the government's failure," he said.

Nationalist Congress Party ((NCP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto asked that the government must first clarify what were the exact benefits when the Rs 2,000 notes were introduced, and "how will it gain now that these same notes introduced with fanfare are being withdrawn from the circulation".