Terming demonetisation as a “money laundering” exercise that helped convert black money into “white”, the left parties CPI(M) and CPI on Thursday said the Prime Minister should come clean on it and accountability must be fixed as the note-ban “failed” to achieve its objectives.
“Was this entire exercise done to protect the corporates that are refusing to return the loans they had taken from our nationalised banksIJ Was this done to prevent the banks from collapsing as a consequence of these loansIJ” CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury asked.
Another left party, the CPI, stated that the RBI's report on demonetisation raises several questions, given there is no information on the quantum of black money unearthed due to demonetisation, and also attributed the falling GDP to the note-ban. “When Venkaiah Naidu was a Minister, he had said demonetisation has short- term pain and long-term gains. There is absolutely no gain, only pain in both short and long terms,” Yechury told reporters.