Cong steps up demand of JPC probe into demonetisation 'scam'

Congress today stepped up its demand for a JPC probe into demonetisation, which it termed as a "big scam", saying BJP and its allied organisations should make public all their bank accounts and property purchased by them in the past one year.
"Congress has already cited many examples to show demonetisation is the biggest scam of India as BJP was converting black money into assets immediately before the move with full knowledge of the drive," senior AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters here.
That some people had advance knowledge of demonetisation is clear from the fact that Rs one crore was deposited in the account of West Bengal unit of BJP in a Kolkata bank on the day of announcement of the government decision in addition to purchase of land by the party in Bihar and Odisha, Ahmad alleged.

While common people stood in queue to withdraw cash, BJP leaders put photographs on social media with wads of new notes of Rs 2,000 which raises questions on party leaders having free access to new currency notes, he said.
Claiming the Narendra Modi government had raised the limit of foreign remittances from India from 75,000 to 2.5 lakh US dollars, the Congress leader said the decision led to an outflow of nearly Rs 30,000 crore from the country only in one year prior to demonetisation.
"All this clearly make out a case for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the entire issue of demonetisation, which apparently helped BJP and its men convert black money into assets," Ahmad said.

He added that all accounts of BJP - its state units and associated organisations for the past one year prior to demonetisation should be made public.

"This would expose the scam of converting black money into white with advance knowledge," he said, adding property worth crores of rupees purchased over the past one year by BJP and all its organisations should also be disclosed.
Demonetisation, he said, had plunged the country into a state of "economic anarchy" and "chaos", and has created a sense of fear and insecurity among people who are lining up in crores in front of banks and ATMs to withdraw their own hard earned money.

Claiming that 80 people have so far died in the country following demonetisation, Ahmad said frequent changes in guidelines on the move caused immense hardship and inconvenience to the people.
He said Congress was not against demonetisation but opposed improper implementation without adequate preparedness by the BJP government to deal with the situation.