Mamata alleges demonetisation ruined economy, millions of lives

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on the Centre on the second anniversary of demonetisation on Thursday and described it as the "darkest day in Indian history."

She tweeted: "Today is the second anniversary of #DeMonetisation disaster. From the moment it was announced I said so. Renowned economists, common people and all experts now all agree. #DarkDay The government cheated our nation with this big #DeMonetisation scam. It ruined the economy and the lives of millions. People will punish those who did this."

She asked: "Who benefited from the decision? Why was the decision taken? To satisfy whom? I have a suspicion that the decision was taken to satisfy the agenda of a few people."

It may be mentioned that Banerjee was the first politician to react after the note ban was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016. She had said that it would affect the country dearly and its development would be stalled. After her, economists, politicians and people from different walks of life echoed her sentiments.

While giving her reaction on social media, she said: "Demonetisation was clamped by some dirty people with dirty agenda."

She maintained that demonetisation had stalled the development in the country. "For a developing country, it was a disaster. Small traders, farmers, common people are worst hit. It did not serve anybody's purpose," she said.

Banerjee said the country was kept in the dark and despite repeated requests, the Centre did not come up with a statement to justify it. "The Centre has failed to bring back black money and over 90 percent currency notes that were in circulation came back due to demonetisation. People stood in long queues to withdraw their money from the banks. Such pathetic was the situation in the cities and in villages, the situation was even worse."

It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister had visited several banks and spoke to those who had to stand in queues for hours, many of whom fell ill and had to be taken to hospitals.

When Derek O' Brien asked Banerjee that how could she understand the ill effects of demonetisation and give her reaction within one hour of the announcement, she said: "I had joined politics when I was a student and have worked with the masses throughout my career. I knew that it would not bring any good to India and there was some agenda behind clamping it."

"The economy is now totally depressed, business is now... oppressed and common people are completely suppressed. The value of rupee has gone down," she added.

The Chief Minister added that after demonetisation, she had asked the grass-root people like housewives, daily labourers, domestic helps about their reaction. "They were crying. It was then I realised that this was a big disaster."

Banerjee further added that the oppressed people are unable to voice their protest as the Centre will let loose agencies like CBI, ED and Income Tax to harass them as soon as they do it.