Demonetisation was 'hasty and immature decision' that hurt poor in India, says Mayawati

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the first anniversary of demonetisation, saying the “hasty and immature” decision had hurt millions of poor in the country “very dearly”. In a statement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November last year had put the common man in huge discomfort and added that people were still reeling from the aftermath of demonetisation. She also lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for observing 8 November as “anti-black money day” and suggested that they should rather observe it as “sorry for demonetisation day”. [caption id=“attachment_4199567” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BSP supremo Mayawati. PTI[/caption] She said the note ban move was cosmetic and aimed at hoodwinking people of the country on action against graft and added that the “Paradise Papers” had “exposed” the BJP and its leaders on their claimed commitment against corruption at high places. Demonetisation, she went on to allege, was to benefit some top-notch businessmen and industrialists, and instead of wiping out corruption in the country, it had in fact created new ways and means to amass black money and also safeguard ill-gotten money. The BSP supremo claimed that it was her party that spoke “factually and technically correctly” on the bane of demonetisation, something that was now being proved as correct after one year. Will the BJP now seek forgiveness of the people of India for their folly, she went on to ask and said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would continue to expose the wrong policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre before the people of the country.