Demonetisation biggest scam in India: Surjewala

Demonetisation was the "biggest scam in independent India" due to which many citizens lost their lives, jobs and life-long savings, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged on Tuesday.

He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for defending note ban on its second anniversary at a rally in poll-bound Chhattisgarh and reiterated that there was a scam in the Rafale deal.

"The way he was praising demonetisation appeared as if it was 'andher nagri chaupat raja' (a confused ruler, a chaotic state)," he said, referring to a popular Hindi phrase.

Singling out Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, Modi, had on Monday said in Chhattisgarh that the "mother-son duo were out on bail" and hit out at them for questioning the government's demonetisation move.

Without naming the Gandhis, he said "they should not forget" that it was due to the note ban move that they "had to seek bail".

On November 8, 2016, Modi had announced a ban on then in use Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination bank notes with immediate effect.

Addressing a press conference here, Surjewala claimed that around 120 people died waiting in bank queues for their money, while many lost their jobs and women had to forgo their life-long savings following note ban.

"It is the biggest scam in independent India," he alleged.

"On the second anniversary of note bandi, the prime minster finally broke his silence in Chhattisgarh on Monday. Instead of taking responsibility for the demonetisation scam, he was levelling charges against the opposition," he said.

Modi was appreciating note ban despite it snatching away the hard earned money of farmers, poor, labourers, middle class and shopkeepers, he said.

Surjewala claimed that demonetisation benefited those who had black money as they deposited it in the banks.

"Overnight, all the black money became white," the All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had on the second anniversary of note ban on November 8 said that it had resulted in formalisation of economy and increased tax base, prompting the government to earmark more resources for the poor and infrastructure development.

Surjewala alleged that ahead of demonetisation, BJP and RSS leaders had purchased properties worth hundreds of crores, and demanded that its details be made public and the matter be probed.

Terming the allegations as "baseless", BJP's state general secretary Santosh Pandey said the Congress was trying to gain attention by spreading rumours and was in fact afraid of Modi.

"Surjewala and the Congress don't have any issues to counter the development work done by the Raman Singh government in the state," he said.

"Out of frustration, the Congress is trying to contest the election through rumours. These allegations are baseless and have no facts. The Congress cannot attain success by spreading rumours," he told PTI.

"The Congress is afraid of Modiji and losing elections. The BJP has set a target of winning 65 seats in Chhattisagrh and will achieve it under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Chief Minister Raman Singh," he added.

He claimed said people of the country did not trust the Congress anymore and that the opposition party's leaders were worried about protecting their existence in Chhattisgarh as well as in the country.

The BJP leader appreciated the note ban decision, claiming that it had "exposed fake NGOs in which Rahul Gandhi's people were partners".

Surjewala further slammed the Centre over the alleged Rafale scam and said, "Nation doesn't need doctored explanations but fair investigation."