Congress protests against note ban in Lucknow, calls it 'maha ghotala'

Congress workers Monday staged a demonstration before the RBI office here against the "failure" of demonetisation, terming it as a 'maha ghotala' (grand scam).

Raising slogans against Narendra Modi, the Congressmen demanded a reply from the prime minister over his promise-- back in November 2016-- to weed out ill-gotten wealth from the country within 50 days.

Over 150 died while standing in queues to change their old currency notes after demonetisation and over 20 lakh lost their jobs following the draconian order issued on November 8, 2016, Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said.

Neither corruption was curbed nor the Naxal and terror attacks have stopped, Awasthi said, adding that claims of black money returning to the country after note ban turned out to be hollow.

All the promises made by the prime minister on this count have failed, Awasthi said.

Similar protests were staged before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building in Kanpur as well as other parts of the state on the call of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Raj Babbar, Awasthi added.