Oppn parties observe 'black day'

A united Opposition on Thursday observed ‘black day’ on Parliament premises to mark one month of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Sporting black bands and carrying placards, Opposition leaders observed a silent protest in front of both the Houses of Parliament convened for the day.

“It has been 30 days since demonetisation was announced. We will not make any slogans today, only hold a Black Day. It will be a silent protest,” Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters here.

“First, the prime minister asked for five days, then five weeks and now he wants 50 days. This isn’t right as not even 50% of the situation got better in the last one month,” Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha told reporters.

“The Opposition does not have any personal benefits in this. It is after taking into account the interest of 90% of the people that we have observed black day,” BSP chief Mayawati said.

The entire Opposition is staging a protest in front of Parliament against the suffering caused by demonetisation, N K Premachandran of the RSP said. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha failed to transact any substantive business as the opposition parties continued to protest, leading to early adjournments of the two Houses. The government rejected the Opposition’s protest.

“This is not a black day. This is their support to black money day,” Minister for Information & Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for discussion in Parliament. “The Opposition is staging the protest only to garner media space. The government is ready for discussion in the House,” he said.