‘‘Withdrawal of ₹2000 proves…”: Opposition slams governments over RBI’s withdrawal of ₹2000 notes 

A file photo of a person holding ₹2000 rupee currency notes. Opposition leaders across the political spectrum argued that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to withdraw ₹2000 notes from circulation proves their point that the November 2016 Demonetisation was a ‘failed exercise’.
| Photo Credit: AP

Opposition leaders across the political spectrum argued that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to withdraw ₹2000 notes from circulation proves their point that the November 2016 Demonetisation was a ‘failed exercise’.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram took to Twitter to argue that demonetisation has come full circle.

“A few weeks after Demonetisation, the government/RBI were forced to re-introduce the ₹500 note. I shall not be surprised if the government/RBI re-introduced the ₹1000 note as well, Mr. Chidamabaram said on Twitter.

The official handle of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) tweeted,”@BJP4India demonetised ₹500 & ₹1000 notes in 2016, disrupting the lives of Indians everywhere! They claimed that the introduction of ₹2000 note would curb the flow of black money”. 

“7 years later, they are withdrawing it from circulation. Yet another MODINOMIC masterstroke?” asked the AITC.

Tagging his Rajya Sabha speech of 2016 in which he had strongly opposed the note ban, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “RBI’s reversal of Modi demonetisation is a vindication of what we said in 2016”.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi government Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that he hoped that the latest decision is taken by experts.

“This whole concept of starting the circulation, stopping the circulation of notes, or issuing of new notes, was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s job and the economy suffered due to this. It neither helped in curbing black money nor ending terrorism,” said Mr. Bharadwaj.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “the ghost of November 8, 2016, has come back to haunt the nation once again.”

“The greatly propagated move of demonetisation continues to be a monumental disaster for this nation. The PM sermoned the nation on the benefits of the new 2000 notes, today when the printing is stopped what happened to all those promises? The government must explain its motive for such a step. The government continues its anti-people and anti-poor agenda,” tweeted Mr. Khera.

Taking a dig at a section of the media that had erroneously claimed that ₹2000 notes had in-built chips that would help authorities to track illegal hoarding, Mr. Khera added, “Hope the media questions the government on such a drastic measure and not attribute it to ‘chip shortage’ in the world”.