Don't harass traders, act against Swiss bank account holders first: Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal met traders in Azadpur Mandi, Laxmi Nagar, and Gandhi Nagar markets in the evening and demanded that the govt rollback the decision

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that to solve the problem of black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should first take action against Swiss bank account holders and stop "harassing honest" traders.

He met traders in Azadpur Mandi, Laxmi Nagar, and Gandhi Nagar markets in the evening and demanded that the government rollback the decision.

"Two days ago the decision to demonetise notes of higher denominations was announced by the Prime Minister and people of the country are distressed. Are not people distressed?" Kejriwal asked a crowd in Gandhi Nagar that replied loudly in the affirmative.

Demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes and introducing Rs 2000 note will not help curb black money, but increase it as it will be easier to amass money in larger denomination, he said.

He met wholesale traders in Azadpur Mandi who said they were facing problems in carrying out cash transactions.

"Friends of BJP were informed in advance" about the demonetisation move. They parked their money safely, while common men were left to fend for themselves, he alleged.

"I want to ask Modiji if the black money is lying with traders or with Ambani-Adani. Why don't you catch Ambani-Adani?" he said and added that the government should stop "harassing honsest" traders.

He claimed that in 2011, the Centre had a list of 648 people with Swiss Bank accounts and said the Prime Minister should take action against them.

"The Congress (government) did nothing. Modi is not doing anything because the names of his friends are there in that list," he alleged.

"The problem of black money will be solved if these people are sent to jail," he said.

He assured traders that no raid will be conducted either by the VAT department or the Sales Tax department for the next one month and asked people to pay no heed to "rumours".

A group of Congressmen held a demonstration and raised slogans against Kejriwal, who retorted accusing it of "siding" with BJP.