Will people still back you, Shiv Sena asks Modi

Terming the spiking of Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes as "a betrayal" of the people, the Shiv Sena on Monday asked whether people would still support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Comparing the government's secret mission of November 8 to an "economic civil war", the Sena - a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the centre and in Maharashtra - said Modi had already dropped one bomb by the demonetization.

Questioning Modi's claims that the people of the country had "blessed" him for the demonetisaton step, the Sena said it was "sheer betrayal of the masses who blessed and voted him to power in 2014", said an editorial in the party mouthpieces "Saamana" and "Dopahar ka Saamana".

"In order to extract the black money from a handful of industrialists, the Modi government has thrown 125 crore people on the streets. They are crowding outside banks, ATMs to get back their own money, waiting in long queues without food, water and some have even died in the process," it pointed out.

"At one stroke, the government has sacrificed 125 crores at the altar of black money - are all these people corrupt and black money hoarders? How many were found standing in the queues with bundles of unaccounted Rs 500 and 1,000 notes?"

The Sena said it fully supported the drive against black money but the manner in which the Modi government had implemented this scheme had led to economic anarchy in the country.

--IANS

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