Demonetisation has been a 'major failure', says Sitaram Yechury

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury took to Facebook on Thursday to say that the Indian economy has ground to a halt in the last month since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a demonetisation drive and added that not one section of the society has been left untouched by turmoil, hardship and pain caused by what he called a "Tughlaqi Firman".

"One month is a good time to take a stock of the crisis unleashed by Modi's demonetisation announcement. He (Prime Minister Modi) had claimed four aims during his announcement -- corruption, terrorism, fake currency and black money. Each of these aims has proven to be wrong, both factually and by empirical evidence on ground," he said.

"The economy has ground to a halt in the last month, and not one section of the society has been left untouched from the turmoil, hardship and pain caused by the Tughlaqi firman," he added.

Yechury further said the poor, whom Prime Minister Modi claims to speak for, have been the worst sufferers as rich black money holders have been given another opportunity to convert their ill-gotten wealth to white by paying some additional tax.

"If anyone has any doubts about where the PM's sympathies lie, do remember that Modi government has written off Rs 1.12 lakh crore of unreturned bank loans in the past two years. During Modi's reign, the share of richest one percent in India's wealth has risen from 49 percent to 58.4 percent.The proof, as they say, is in the pudding," he added.

The CPI (M) leader claimed that the Prime Minister Modi government has made the rich richer and all at the cost of the poor and the middle-class which has been made to suffer even more with the demonetisation disaster.

"He has now shifted the goalpost to digital payment, a word missing in his TV speech on 8 November, which makes no sense in a country like ours, unless the goal is to exclude the poor and the downtrodden from participating in India's economy," he added.