Differing from Nitish, Sharad slams demonetisation

Taking a stand different from JD(U) President Nitish Kumar, party leader Sharad Yadav today slammed demonetisation as an "unplanned and short-sighted" decision and said BJP will be thrown out of power like the forced 'nasbandi' (vasectomy) during Emergency caused Congress' downfall.
"Nasbandi (vasectomy) had thrown Congress out of power and now 'notebandi' (demonetisation) will throw BJP out of power." The move has created chaos and mess across the country, he alleged.
The JD(U) leader suggested the decision was taken in a hurry after names of certain leaders cropped up for taking bribe from a corporate group and the matter was set to come up for judicial hearing.

The stand of Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member, is in contrast to that of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has been praising the decision to invalidate Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes and had demanded more action against black money.
"I am in favour of the decision to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes which will help end '2 number ka dhanda' (illegal business)," Nitish had said, though he criticised the Centre for not making proper arrangements leading to inconvenience to the common man.
Yadav today alleged, "Demonetization was unplanned, immature and very short sighted decision and has created chaos, agony and mess in the country. It was taken in hurry for the reasons best known to the government."

"It was not a bold decision when mainly poor people have been affected. It was an insensitive step taken by the government without proper preparation. It was ill conceived and tragic action which has proved to be horrible for the common man as people are standing in the queues at banks and ATMs," he said in a statement.
Yadav quoted experts to question the move, saying economists believe that black money out of the total Rs 16 lakh crore currency will be to the extent of 3 per cent only and counterfeit currency will not be more than even quarter per cent. Therefore demonetization was not the solution for black money.

"Government should not have taken such a step which would be hitting the country badly from all corners," he said.