Demonetisation was conspiracy to benefit a few: Congress

New Delhi, November 8

Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said demonetisation was a well-thought-out conspiracy directed against 99 per cent Indians to benefit one per cent of “PM Modi’s capitalist friends”.

Eliminated jobs

Demonetisation was a well-thought-out conspiracy to destroy employment, eliminate small businesses, harm farmers and break the unorganised economy. Rahul Gandhi, congress leader

“Demonetisation was a well-thought-out conspiracy to destroy employment, stop the income of workers, eliminate small businesses, harm farmers and break the unorganised economy, attack 99 per cent common Indians and benefit one per cent capitalist ‘friends’ of Modi. This was a weapon to pick your pocket to fill the best friend’s bag and make him the second richest person in the world,” Gandhi wrote on X today on the seventh anniversary of the banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Demonetisation was the biggest assault on India’s economy and livelihood! Indians are still nursing the wound of this mindless giant attack! 50 days is what Modi ji wanted. But seven years down the line, people of India, badly battered and bruised on that fateful night of November 8, are still searching for answers!”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said demonetisation along with a “badly designed” GST finished off job-generating small and medium businesses, caused a 45-year unemployment high, and ended the economic recovery that had begun in 2013.

Ramesh said seven years ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi “inflicted” demonetisation on an unsuspecting nation. “A decision that broke the back of the Indian economy and epitomised the unique combination of hubris, inhumanity and economic illiteracy that is the hallmark of the Modi government. A travesty repeated again with the unplanned, sudden lockdown on March 24, 2020, which led to lakhs of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometres back home,” Ramesh said.