Lukewarm response to protest against note ban

The Opposition parties on Monday staged nationwide protests against the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, disrupting normal life in Kerala and Tripura where a day-long shutdown was observed.

The protest, termed Akrosh Divas (Day of Anger), received mixed response.The Congress, which did not call for a shutdown “lest people are inconvenienced,” staged protests in Karnataka, New Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and other parts of the country.

In Karnataka, demonstrations and rallies were held throughout the state. The protests affected the functioning of both the Houses of the Legislature, now in a 10-day winter session at Belagavi, as they did not sit on Monday in line with the decision taken by the Business Advisory Committee. In Delhi, the Congress and the party’s student wing, the National Students Union of India, staged demonstrations.

The Left front – CPM, CPI, CPI-ML Liberation, Forward Bloc and RSP – staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, which was led by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI national secretaries D Raja and Atul Anjan.

The Left parties demanded that the government let people use the banned notes for transaction till December 30 or till an alternative arrangement is put in place.

They also demanded compensation for the families of those who died while standing in queues in front of banks and ATMs post-demonetisation.

Yechury accused Prime Minister Modi of providing an “opportunity to black money hoarders to make their money white”, and Raja attacked him for evading a debate on demonetisation in Parliament.

Though the Trinamool Congress, which is demanding a rollback of demonetisation, took out a rally led by Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, it opposed the protest called by the Left. According to reports, the bandh evoked a lukewarm response.
Normal life was hit in Left-ruled Tripura with schools, colleges and shops remaining closed and vehicles staying off the roads.

In Maharashtra, the Congress and te NCP took to the streets,  though life remained unaffected with no disruption to public transport or functioning of offices and businesses in Mumbai and other parts.

Hundreds of workers from various Opposition parties, led by the DMK, were arrested when they staged protests across Tamil Nadu.