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In a tweet, Chidambaram said, "As expected, the government/RBI have withdrawn the Rs 2,000 note and given time until September 30 to exchange the notes.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.''

Rs 2000 note was never a clean note. It was not used by the vast majority of the people. It was used only by people to keep their black money, temporarily!

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 19, 2023

''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rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous 'Tughlaqi firman' of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn.''

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rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous Tughlaqi firman of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn.https://t.co/gPjY07iKID

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 19, 2023

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

Our leader’s question till today remains https://t.co/z2mXmXvVLO

— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) May 19, 2023

𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄

Now the nano chip enabled ₹2000 currency note is being taken out of circulation, and there is a window to exchange it until September 30.

You can only exchange ₹20,000 at a time. Even when the govt introduced ₹2000 note, the…

— Congress (@INCIndia) May 19, 2023

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.

500 और 1000 के नोट बंद करने से कालाधन खत्म नहीं हुआ था

क्या सरकार मानती है
2016 की नोटबंदी विफल रही

अगर 2016 की नोटबंदी सफल थी
तो आज 2000 के नोट वापस लेने का ऐलान क्यों ??

— Atul Londhe Patil (@atullondhe) May 19, 2023

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".