Congress workers gherao RBI office to protest demonetisation

Hundreds of Congress party protesters gheraoed the RBI office here on Wednesday with slogans denouncing demonetisation and the Centre's role in "destruction of the RBI's autonomy".

The agitators vented their anger against the BJP-led government for "expropriation of power" from the central bank and termed the note ban as 'carpet bombing' on the country's economy. The protest rally to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) here was led by senior party leaders Anand Sharma and Ajay Maken.

The demonstration was part of a call for country-wide protests made on Tuesday by the Congress party.

Similar protests were launched across the country in several cities, helmed by senior Congress leaders. The cities included Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, and were also held in cities in Bihar, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, among others.

In Gujarat senior Congress leaders Shankar Singh Vaghela and former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde were detained by the police when they took to the road to voice their anger against the central government.

Wednesday marked the beginning of an agitation movement which will continue till January 23, the party said.

--IANS

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