The economy of the country has collapsed due to the demonetisation move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai.

Speaking outside DC’s office on Saturday, Rai termed the move as anti-national. Stating that the NDA government has denied people use of their own hard-earned money, Rai said the BJP promised to bring back black money from abroad, but has cheated people by demonetising high value currency notes. While the move did not affect the rich, it has badly affected the poor. He said that the lavish marriage at Ballari by the Reddys is a mirror to the failure of the move by the Centre.

AICC observer Dr Vishnuprasad said that Modi presumed that he would gain popularity by demonetising high value currencies. However, people would show him his popularity in the next elections.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader said that the people have now realised the truth. “Those who waited in long queues to draw their own money, will teach a lesson to the BJP in the next elections,” he said.

In Udupi

The district Congress staged a rally condemning the demonetisation and rise in corruption.

District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj said demonetisation has affected the country massively in terms of declining growth rate. “Anywhere else in the world, there would have been a huge civilian revolution following demonetisation. Indians are tolerant and open-minded. Already 50 days are over, but the repercussions continue snowballing. The poor and the traders are the worst sufferers. The income generation has miserably failed as against the assurances by the prime minister over the augmentation of the income. The country is lynching towards decline. Demonetisation has not spared the state’s exchequer, as states are also experiencing the brunt of the impact.”

Quoting an economist, he said demonetisation can be taken up only in countries like Greece, where the economy has gone to the dogs. “A developing country like India, with increasing growth rate, will experience the worst due to demonisation. The country is also on the threshold of economic bankruptcy. Nearly 14.5-lakh crore worth currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination is banned and the printed currency is only Rs 2.3 lakh crore,” the minster added. At least one year is required to replace the currencies that have been banned, he said and confidently added that the Congress is the only solution and the voters would realise the truth.

The Congress district president Gopal Poojary said demonetisation has put an end to all cooperative system of financing. Farmers who were dependent on short-term loans from cooperative banks are suffering. They are deprived of the right to borrow the money. There has been universal embargo on 370 district central cooperative societies and over 93,000 agricultural credit societies. Small and medium industries are shutting down with massive job losses. As per the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE), the loss in the first 50 days would be Rs 11.28 lakh crore.

He said that even after December 31, there is no solution found for the repercussions emerging out of demonetisation. “The NDA government has stopped all the pro-poor programmes initiated by the UPA government. The prime minister is a liar who always misguides the nation with fake assurances. An artificial emergency is created in the country,” he added. He said 115 innocent lives had tragic deaths owing to the impact of demonetisation. The Reserve Bank of India has changed the rules 126 times in 50 days. The prime minister has paralysed the agricultural economy.

A memorandum was submitted to the DC demanding independent inquiry and the compensation for recouping the losses suffered by demonetisation.