CPI is 'second to none' in fight against corruption: Left to Jaitley

Hitting back at Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley who had expressed his 'disappointment' with the Left for opposing the Prime Minister's move to demonetise the 500 and 1000 Rupee notes, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Friday claimed that their party is 'second to none' in the fight against corruption.

"I declare that we are second to none in the fight against corruption, in the fight against black money. It is the left parties, who are consistently raising the issue of black money and saying that black money is running a parallel economy in this country," CPI leader D Raja told ANI here.

He further said that the unprecedented move of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of demonetization is not new, adding that the Congress government and the government in 1978 took similar steps to curb black money.

"Is the step taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi genuine? Is it a genuine effort to unearth black money because black money has been stashed to foreign banks? The demonetization is done in a very secretive and dramatized manner and common people find it difficult to manage their simple livelihood," he added.

Earlier, Jaitley had expressed 'disappointment' at the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties who disapproved the decision of Prime Minister Modi's to demonetize 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to curb black money, corruption and fake currency.

"I am not surprised at the reaction of the Congress party. Congress party has never had a kind of dislike against corruption. And if I were to ask the Congress party, you were in power for last 10 years, name one step against black money that you took... You probably won't find anything," Jaitley told in an interview to a news channel.

"If India is trying to move away from a cash economy, the Communists should not have been unhappy. So the Communists want a free market society to deal only in cash. Well, this is not the history of the Left that I understood it to be," Jaitley added.