Demonetisation to cover up Narendra Modi's failure, says Kerala CPI

CPI denied allegation that black money to the tune of crores of rupees had been stashed away in cooperative banks in the state

CPI's Kerala unit on Saturday hit out at the Centre over the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, saying it was a bid to cover up Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "failure" in reining in black money.

The demonetisation policy of the BJP-led NDA government will not curb black money as it continues to exist in the forms of gold and stock exchange deposits, CPI State Secretary Kanam Rajendran claimed.

Addressing a 'meet-the-press' programme organised by Kerala Union of Working Journalists here, he denied BJP leaders' allegation that black money to the tune of crores of rupees had been stashed away in cooperative banks in the state.

"Will demonetisation help in putting an end to blackmoney? Then, what are the means to regulate illegal money in the form of gold and stock exchange deposits?" Rajendran asked.

"Modi has been saying for the last two years that he will bring back black money stashed abroad. But, he failed to fulfill his promise and the present demonetisation was an attempt to cover up his failure," he charged.

Referring to BJP seeking a probe into money deposited in cooperative banks in the state, the senior CPI leader said the propaganda was part of a calculated move to destroy the cooperative sector, "a backbone" of the state's economy.

"Cooperative banks are being operated with the license of Reserve Bank of India. Cooperative institutions are backbone of the state's agrarian sector and play a crucial role in the state's economy," he said, adding that like Kerala, such institutions were significant in Gujarat also.

Referring to BJP state general secretary K Surendran's letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that huge amount of unaccounted money was deposited in state cooperative banks, Rajendran said he should prove his allegation and reveal its source.

In a letter to Jaitley, Surendran had said that an estimated Rs 30,000 crores of black money had been deposited in the cooperative banks in the state and "not a single paise" was paid as income tax on them.