The Centre on Wednesday urged Opposition parties to come on board and appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move and welcomed suggestions which could help the Government in proper execution of the decision.
Putting up a strong defence of the Prime Minister during a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Piyush Goyal stated that the step was taken in national interest to end corruption and black money and curb terrorist activities in the country. Naidu said the exercise to take out Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes was “temporary pain for long-term gain”.
Naidu claimed that common people were supporting the Government’s move which will also help in curbing inflation and reduction of taxes. He said while the country has welcomed this initiative it is natural for some people who have black money to be worried.
“The Prime Minister wants a behavioural change in the country... This is a war on corruption and black money and you (Opposition) have to decide which side you are on,” Naidu said.
He reminded the Opposition that in its first Cabinet meeting the Government cleared the proposal to set up a Special Investigative Team on black money.
“We fought the elections in 2014 on corruption and scams. People expected us to take a clear-cut stand,” he said.
While criticising the Opposition members who took a jibe on the “great move” of the Prime Minister, Naidu urged all parties to support demonetisation so that the House gives a message to the country that all are united against corruption and black money.
“We thought all political parties will support us in Parliament. But for some reasons they have opposed the move. It seems they are worried due to the public favouring it and supporting the Government despite the problems being faced by them,” said Naidu who during his statement also received accolades in bits from Opposition members.
Congress member Digvijay Singh in a lighter vein mentioned that perhaps Modi had chosen the right man in Naidu to defend the Government.
On his part Power Minister Piyush Goyal, appreciated the BJP Government and the Prime Minister for taking a bold decision to resurrect the country’s sagging economy. “If anyone has the strength to take on black money and corruption, it is the BJP Government and Narendra Modi,” Goyal said and rejected as baseless the Opposition charge that there was “leakage” of the decision and said everyone was taken by surprise which is why there are “initial” problems.
“I am confident that the public understands the initial problems because the decision was kept a secret. No honest tax-payer will lose a single rupee. The loss will be of those who have amassed wealth through corruption and black money and the public should also support the Government,” he said.
To demands that the Government should declare names of people who have Swiss Bank accounts, Goyal said such a step will make it difficult for the Government to obtain more information about such accounts.
In between, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too confronted a statement by Congress member Pramod Tiwari who compared Modi to dictators Muammar Gaddafi, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. This drew sharp criticism from the BJP Benches with Naqvi and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking the Chair to expunge the remarks.