Arvind Kejriwal says demonetization is a big scam

By Raaghav G R

Posted on November 15, 2016

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, lashed out at the Narendra Modi led BJP government and demanded that the government roll back its decision to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes as he felt that the move would not remove black money from the Indian economy. With this accusation, Arvind Kejriwal joined a growing list of opposing politicians who have criticized the government’s abrupt move. Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP had notified all of its ‘friends’ who had stashed away their ‘black money’ well before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the move. “In the name of fighting black money, a big scam is being implemented. The decision should be rolled back. People will lose jobs and this will hurt the economy”, AAP chief, Arvind Kejriwal said. Kejriwal’s strong criticism come a day after BJP president, Amit Shah lashed out at critics and mentioned the AAP chief by name, among other leaders, asking them whether they were in favour of black money! “Amit Shah is lecturing on honesty. There cannot be a bigger irony”, Kejriwal said. Read more on Narendra Modi

The AAP, Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress have all opposed the move. Arvind Kejriwal had referred to the manipulated photo posted on social media, which showed Nalini Maurya to be the daughter of BJP’s UP leader, Keshav Prasad Maurya and carrying in her hand twenty lakh Rs. 2000 notes, when commoners were struggling to get Rs. 2000 out of ATMs, when criticizing the BJP party. He said that the BJP party had alerted black money hoarders, while harassing the common man. It was later on proved and revealed that BJP’s UP chief has no daughter and only two sons. The records he had submitted before standing in the previous election were used as proof. Arvind Kejriwal became a laughing stock to the public then. But he continued criticizing the BJP party. “Who are standing in the long lines? Rickshaw pullers, traders, shopkeepers and housewives. All of whom have paid their taxes”. Arvind Kejriwal alleged that black money was being re-distributed because hoarders were buying dollars, gold and property with the help of middlemen who facilitated illegal exchange of old banknotes. “A crisis was intentionally created to help touts. This isn’t a surgical strike on black money; it is a surgical strike on the common man’s savings. We question their intent and implementation”, Arvind Kejriwal said. The AAP chief pointed to high bank deposits in the past quarter to prove that the BJP had alerted its ‘friends’ and said the government knew that ATMs couldn’t be recalibrated overnight to dispense notes of new size and design, but went ahead with the move to harass common people.

BJP president, Amit Shah, said on Saturday, that opposition party leaders were making irresponsible statements by saying that the government should have alerted the public well in advance about the demonetization. He said that if the government had done that, it would have spoilt the very intent of the plan and its effectiveness. We have to agree with Amit Shah and cannot help but wonder if the opposition leaders are criticizing this move because they have a lot of black money and would be exposed if they came out to exchange it. According to this move, due to the limit imposed on withdrawal amounts and due to the sudden announcement, it is not possible for any person having crores of black money, to withdraw or exchange all his money in a single day and buy properties or gold unless middlemen are indeed facilitating illegal exchange of large amounts of currency notes. Whether Kejriwal is right about his criticism on Modi and the BJP government depends on whether the allegations on middlemen are true or not. Narendra Modi said on Saturday that, if any person having black money confesses and deposits it in the bank. He or she need only to pay 45% tax on it and no questions about the source of the black money would be asked. On the contrary, if a person has black money, but does not confess or deposit it, then he or she would be questioned about its source and could even be imprisoned for life or given a death sentence if caught. Only time will tell if people who do not deposit black money are caught and punished and if the allegations about middlemen are true. Read more on Startup News

Arvind Kejriwal says demonetization is a big scam