Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday led the Opposition attack on the Government over the demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, terming it as “monumental mismanagement.”
Singh’s sharp criticism of the Government came during temporary resumption of the debate on demonetisation, during which the noted economist slammed it as a case of organised “loot and legalised plunder.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during Singh’s speech.
Urging Modi to find “practical and pragmatic” ways to provide relief to people, Singh asked the PM to name the countries where people had deposited their money in banks but were not allowed to withdraw it. “This alone is enough to condemn what has been done in the name of greater growth,” he added.
Singh said the decision will result in a GDP decline of 2 per cent, which was an “underestimate and not an overestimate.”
The discussion continued for an hour in the pre-lunch session, but the House did not function later as the Opposition demanded that Modi be present throughout the debate.
leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Modi will take part in the discussion but there is no tradition that the PM sits throughout the discussion.
leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad reminded Jaitley of how the then Opposition, including the BJP, had forced Manmohan Singh to sit through a debate on the 2G scam for two days. Azad also said the Opposition had agreed to resume the debate on an assurance from the ruling BJP that Modi would be present throughout. However, the Government was now reneging on its promise, he said.
Resuming the discussion after Question Hour was scrapped, Singh said while he agreed with the decision to curb black money and control terror finance, the manner in which demonetisation was implemented “convinced me that, it’s a monumental management failure.”
He said the mismanagement had caused large-scale distress and refuted the Government’s claim that this was a temporary situation. Quoting noted economist John Keynes, Singh said, “in the long run, all of us are dead.”
He also disagreed with Modi’s plea to wait for 50 days for the results of demonetisation to show.
“Well, 50 days is a short period, but for the poor and deprived sections of the community even 50 days of torture can have a disastrous effect,” Singh said, adding that’s why 60 to 65 people have lost their lives.
“What has been done can weaken and erode the people’s confidence in the currency system and in the banking system,” he said, while observing that agriculture, the unorganized sector and small industry were hit hard.
Singh criticized the Government for issuing new instructions and modifying rules daily on how people could withdraw money. “That reflects very poorly on the Prime Minister’s Office, the Finance Minister’s Office and on the Reserve Bank of India. I feel sorry that the Reserve Bank has been exposed to this kind of criticism, which I think is fully justified,” he said.
Participating in the debate, Naresh Agrawal (SP) said his party was against demonetization and dubbed it as a “second emergency” that has brought about financial emergency in the country. Such decisions have been taken “only by dictators” and not by elected Governments anywhere in the world, he charged.
Claiming that the decision was taken with the upcoming UP Assembly polls in mind, he said no one has the power to implement such a decision without the consent of both Houses of Parliament, as Parliamentarians are the true representatives of the people. He urged Modi to roll back the decision which had caused untold hardship to the common man.
He cautioned Modi not to get swayed by praise for his decision and recalled how even former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who enforced Emergency in the country, was informed at the time that the move had gone down well with the public, but what happened in elections was seen by all.
Taking a dig Agrawal asked Modi need not worry about his life and said the Prime Minister was free to roam around in UP. The entire House, including Modi had a good laugh.
Agrawal had everyone in splits when he said that Modi did not take his Cabinet Ministers including the Finance Minister into confidence before announcing demonetization. “Had he done so, Arun ji would have at least told me about it,” Agrawal said.
BSP chief Mayawati said the demonetization decision was taken “without adequate preparation” because of which 95 per cent people were facing problems.” Referring to the Government’s survey to gauge people’s views on the cash ban in which 90 per cent had allegedly supported the decision, she said 90 per cent people were facing immense problems. She dared the Government to dissolve the lok Sabha and go for elections right now.
TMC’s Derek O’Brien said the Government was trying to build a narrative that anyone opposing demonetization was supporting the corrupt and was anti-national. “We are opposing because people are suffering,” he said.
Meanwhile, after days of confrontation between the Government and Opposition, Modi walked across to the Opposition Benches in the Rajya Sabha and exchanged pleasantaries.
later, Modi along with Jaitley and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Naqvi reached out to Opposition leaders when the Upper House broke for lunch. Modi shook hands and was seen chatting with Manmohan Singh, as also leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Sharad Yadav, Praful Patel and Kanimozhi and some other leaders.