Note ban key reason for economic slowdown : Hariprasad

Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of "ruining" the country's economy with the "arbitrary and disastrous decision" of demonetisation.

He said the government is living in denial about the fact that the economy is in "tatters".

The Congress veteran questioned the purpose of the note ban as it failed to serve all its purposes, including ending terrorism in Kashmir and unearthing black money.

"The country's economy is on a downward slide and one of the key reasons behind it is the decision of demonetisation. It has ruined Indian economy," he said.

The decision had a cascading effect on Indian economy - from destroying rural economy tounemployment, to creating a havoc in industrialisation start ups. "Everything has gone for a toss," the Congress MP told a protest rally here on the third anniversary of demonetisation.

The Congress leader claimed that not a single purpose that was listed during demonetisation has been served. "From unearthing black money to fighting corruption, to destroying terror infrastructure in Kashmir - it has not served a single purpose. Rather both corruption and terrorism is on the rise," he said.

"The decision has devastated the Indian economy, taking many lives, wiping out lakhs of small businesses and leaving millions of Indians unemployed," Hariprasad said.

Criticising the Centre for failing to revive the country's economy, the Congress leader saidthe "weirdest part" of the slowdown is that the Centre is in "complete denial" about the economic slump.

"The union government is busy in only criticising opposition parties and is in a denial that there is a economic slowdown. Untill and unless you accept there is a problem, how can you be honest in solving it?" he asked.

Announcing the demonetisation on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes would cease to be a legal tender.

The West Bengal Congress organized a protest march from Coal India office to RBI office in central Kolkata against the decision of note ban.