Demonetisation a 'DeMoDisaster': CM

Kolkata: On the first anniversary of note ban, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described demonetisation as "DeMoDisaster" and turned her Twitter display picture black, on Wednesday.

"I have turned my Twitter DP black #DeMoDisaster. Let us raise our voices #Nov8BlackDay," the Trinamool Congress supremo wrote on her Twitter handle after turning her DP black.

Taking a dig at the Modi government on completion of a year of the event, Banerjee said the BJP has already had a moral defeat in Gujarat as they do not have faith on the people of the state.

"Why all the Central ministers have to be sent to Gujarat for the elections if they have carried out development work in the state and have faith on the people of Gujarat," she asked. She further added that people are not happy there and she thinks that the BJP has already been morally defeated in Gujarat and that is why the entire Central government, the state government and all of its agencies are keen to "anyhow capture" power. This comes at the time when 1 lakh people lost their jobs only at Surat in Gujarat recently.

"The only target is to keep the party in power in whatever situation. They are in power and can do it forcefully. Their governance in the state is being taken care of by the party. The Central ministers do not carry out development work. Instead, they work to strengthen the party and affecting the federal structure of the country and creating riots," she said, adding that there was torture on Dalits all across the country.

Stating that one cannot ruin the economy of the country for personal ego or vendetta, she further said: "This government has lost all credentials and accountability. People have lost faith and confidence."

Making strong remarks she said: "One party that is in power at the Centre has been benefitted out of it (demonetisation) and there should be an investigation into it."

Stating that they have also failed to bring back black money from Switzerland, she said: "Now, it has gone to paradise." She further clarified by saying that by paradise she means heaven (not the Paradise Papers). "I don't want to take that name as we all know what would be the fate of the investigation," she maintained.

The Chief Minister said that she is grateful to the political parties who are protesting against demonetisation.

The Chief Minister added that it is not only the political parties in the Opposition, but noted economists including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, who was Finance Minister of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, have also slammed the move that led to a fall in the investment growth of the country from 6.11 percent in 2015-16 to 0.5 percent in 2016-17.

She termed the demonetisation and hasty implementation of the GST as "double selfish taxation" on the people of India. "It (anti-people steps) is bad for the country, it is bad for governance and it is bad politically…"

Meanwhile, the Congress and the Left parties held demonstrations across the country, while the RJD organised rallies in Bihar. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi used multiple platforms to slam the exercise. He wrote a signed article in the UK's Financial Times, took to Twitter and met a cross-section of people in Surat, poll-bound Gujarat's "diamond city". His party colleague, former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram, echoed him.

Launching a scathing attack on the Centre and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley — who said on Tuesday the demonetisation decision was an "ethical drive and a moral step" — he asked whether it was "ethical" to heap misery on millions of people.