Oppn marks 'black day' across country

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Wednesday hit the streets separately to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation as a 'black day'.

The Congress formed a "human chain" in the busy Connaught Place area to express its anguish over the loss of lives and jobs in the aftermath of the "thoughtless decision".

The Left parties held their protests a little away from Connaught Place by taking out a protest march from Mandi House to the Reserve Bank of India office, hitting out at the Narendra Modi government for setting "two records" making people lose their lives in queues and helping hoarders change black money into white.

Last month, Opposition parties had decided to observe November 8 as "Black Day" but refrained from putting up a joint protest.

"In their respective states, they will be protesting in their own way," Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had said on October 24 after a meeting of key Opposition leaders.

All the Congress's frontal organisations the Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, Seva Dal and the National Students Union of India took out a protest march demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for the "misery he had heaped on the people" on November 8, 2016.

The Delhi Congress activists formed a "human chain" in Connaught Place to protest against the decision. The protests were attended by Azad, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken and rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.

Speaking at the protest of Left parties, senior CPM leader Brinda Karat mocked the government for "celebrating" note ban anniversary as "Anti-black Money Day".

"For the first time in the history of India, a government is celebrating the deaths and the sufferings of people," she said, referring to the Centre's programmes to commemorate the first year of the move.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with chiefs of the party's frontal organisations, said the "double whammy of demonetisation and GST" was being felt across the country.

"The disastrous demonetisation and unprepared implementation of GST has not only destroyed India's growth story but also rendered crores of people jobless and caused businesses to shut down," Surjewala said.

DH News Service