The Congress and the BJP on Friday were face to face in the State over the impact of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currencies by the NDA Government two years ago.
While the Congress party described the note ban as a scam, the BJP claimed the decision achieved its objectives of bringing the black money into banking system and also inspiring more people to pay taxes. BJP leaders claimed black money dominated the economy during the UPA governments adding now the country economy is largely based on money which is legal.
The congress party workers staged demonstrations at the RBI office and at the district headquarters across the State to protest what it called the biggest organized loot of Independent India.
While taking part in the protest outside the RBI office leader of the congress legislature party Alamgir Alam stated that note ban led to unprecedented rise in unemployment. The congress workers also burnt the effigies of PM and the finance minister during the protest.
Congress party leaders demanded that PM must answer who were the real beneficiaries of the note ban decision taken by him on November 8, 2016. Party’s spokesman Lal Kishore Nath Sahdeo said none of the promises enumerated by the PM for the note ban were fulfilled subsequently.
Meanwhile, State BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo stated that the Congress is fuming over the note ban as it has been hit the worst by the decision. He added that crores of rupees mobilized by the party in various scams during UPA-1 and UPA-II governments were turned into wastes due to the measure.
Stating the benefits of demonetization, Shahdeo said that the income tax collection has risen by 20 per cent by September 2018-19. He stated that number of tax payers in the country has reached seven crores, which is a record. He added that government was also examining 17 lakh accounts which witnessed large transaction of money after the demonetisation. He said that till September tax collection has increased by 20 per cent in comparison to that in the previous financial year.
Deo said that the return of black money into the banking system has enabled the government to fund several of its welfare schemes including the Ayushman Bharat.