Backed by a ginger group of regional parties, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday sought the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi if problem arising out of demonetisation were not resolved after December 30. However, the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), JD(U), NCP and left parties were absent from the Congress-convened Opposition meeting in the national Capital on Tuesday.
After the eight-party meeting, the leaders also sought a probe into the issue of “personal corruption” of Modi with Rahul insisting that a “free and fair” enquiry was needed to maintain the credibility of the Prime Minister’s post.
Mamata virtually stole the show by placing the resignation demand, a position subsequently echoed by the Gandhi scion.
While Rahul claimed that demonetisation has “failed” in meeting the Prime Minister’s objectives of checking terrorism, counterfeit currency, black money and corruption, Mamata said that the country was witnessing a “super emergency” under his rule without its formal declaration.
The other parties whose representatives were present include the RJD, DMK, JD(S), JMM, IUMl and AIUDF. In the just-concluded Parliament Session, Rahul had brought together a total of 16 Opposition parties on the note ban issue, some of which distanced themselves after his meeting with the Prime Minister on December 16 on farmers’ issues.
Both Rahul and Mamata spoke of a “common minimum agenda” being evolved to take the Opposition unity forward even as the Congress vice-president downplayed the absence of several other parties, including the left, from the meet which preceded the Press conference.
Escalating the attack on Modi, Rahul described the note ban as a “single arbitrary financial experiment in the history of the world that affected 1.3 billion people” and asked him to explain the “real” reason for implementing it and take responsibility for giving pain to people. He also demanded that Modi answer the charges of “personal corruption” made against him in the wake of his name allegedly figuring in the “Sahara and Birla diaries”.
Terming demonetisation as a “mega scam” in the name of “achhe din” (good days), Mamata asked, “Will you take responsibility over demonetisation and resignIJ Will you resign from Prime MinistershipIJ”
The West Bengal Chief Minister said that 47 days are over and only three days are left in the 50-day period sought by Modi for return of normalcy post the note ban. “He is not a magician to perform magic. No miracle will happen. You promised to bring ‘achhe din’. Are these ‘achhe din’IJ In the name of cashless, the Modi Government has become faceless and baseless. Demonetisation is not a small issue. If Government becomes weak, the country is weakened,” she said.
Asked what if the PM did not resign, Rahul said, “If he does not resign, we will put pressure on him to resign.”
The Congress V-P said, “It was on the Prime Minister’s personal initiative that this arbitrary financial experiment was carried out for the first time in the world history that affected 1.3 billion people. Such an experiment was never done even during Mao’s reign in China.”
Rahul also claimed that demonetisation has made no impact on black money and dubbed it as “an attack on financial independence” and poor people of the country. “The PM should come out with the real aim of demonetisation and answer who is responsible for the suffering of the poor and what is he doing for those who have been hit. The aim of demonetisation has failed. The Prime Minister says he is fighting corruption but he is not answering the questions raised about him. The Prime Minister should be the first person to say that since there are charges against him there should be a free and fair probe,” said the Congress leader.
Asked about former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s name figuring in the same documents, Rahul replied, “Sheilaji herself is saying that she has no problem with an enquiry. Why Narendra Modiji is not saying that. While there are many names in ‘Sahara diaries’, his name appears clearly in the e-mail of vice-president of Aditya Birla group.”
Rahul also recalled that in the Jain diary case, four Congress Ministers as well as BJP leader lK Advani had resigned from the lok Sabha and suggested that the Prime Minister should also do so as there are allegations against him.
Rahul sought to dismiss BJP’s claims that the Supreme Court has not found any merit in the allegations. Some observations might have come but the judgment is yet to come, he said.
At the same time, he said that the Opposition would be one with Government in any legislation to tackle corruption, including the one on Benami properties. He said he should make public the names of all those who have accounts abroad and bring back absconding businessmen Vijay Mallya and lalit Modi.
“All sections of society are being frightened by saying “Gabbar is coming, Gabbar is coming”, said the West Bengal Chief Minister, suggesting that the country cannot be run through such threats and accused the PM of taking away people’s rights.
RJD’s Jai Prakash Narain Yadav said note ban is an “anti-people” and “very painful” decision in which 130 people lost their lives. He held the Prime Minister responsible for it and said the rich had been benefited and the poor ‘looted’ and termed the situation as “very serious”.
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said “the country is facing a financial crisis” due to demonetisation and people have been made to suffer as its implementation has been “ill conceived”.