Opposition steps up attack on govt

Note-worthy: Ploy to repay debt owed by industrialists, says Rahul

With Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi stepping up his attack on the government on demonetization, chances of Parliament holding its regular sittings on the remaining three days of the Winter Session has waned.

Despite Information &Broadcasting  Minister Venkaiah Naidu’s announcement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present in the House for the three days, Opposition leaders feel the offer has come too late. 

Rahul launched his attack on the government from a grain market at Dadri, about 50 km from here. 

Addressing a gathering at the wholesale market, Rahul said the Modi government has blocked money to the poor and is promoting “cashless” transactions which would benefit a handful of businessmen. He said the money that the poor had deposited in the banks would be used to repay the debt to the tune of Rs 8 lakh crore owed by these handful of industrialists.

“Modiji wants the money of the poor to remain in the banks for the next six to eight months,” he said.

The Parliament’s Winter Session that began on November 16 has witnessed repeated disruptions over demonetisation with a united Opposition  seeking to pin down the Modi government over the hardships faced by the people in accessing their hard-earned money.

Jaitley taunts Congress

As the Congress upped its ante on cash crunch, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the party’s “scandalous record” is making it extremely uncomfortable with the government’s anti-corruption campaign.

He said demonetisation of high-value currency notes is a cornerstone of that campaign, which will help shore up tax revenues and check evasions.

“Corruption scandals – from 2G spectrum scam to coal block allocation to Commonwealth Games to deal with AugstaWestland for procuring VVIP helicopters – peaked during the UPA regime,” he said.