PM 'slighting' constitution by not answering Parl: AIADMK

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation issue, AIADMK today said by talking about it only outside Parliament, he was "slighting the constitution and democracy."
Listing a set of questions over demonetisation and its implications, AIADMK said, "the Prime Minister who is supposed to answer all these questions is slighting the constitution and democracy by seeking to explain about it only in places other than the Parliament".
"..Having many loopholes (in implementing demonetisation), the BJP's claim to root out blackmoney is like cultivation of desert by drawing water using a bucket that has a sieve for its bottom," the Tamil Nadu ruling party said in its Tamil mouthpiece, 'Dr Namadhu MGR'.

Besides comparing the effort to root out black money with a vain bid to draw water using a bucket full of holes, the AIADMK also claimed that people were incensed at such an exercise of "sham."
Mocking the BJP, it said the partymen do not "shine in their work" and it was a known fact that their "action does not commensurate with their big talks".
The mouthpiece said people were "angry," that the demonetisation move had been "reportedly leaked to many," and a Gujarati daily had even published beforehand about it.

AIADMK said people were incensed by norms like an upper limit even for withdrawals for weddings.

Stating that there were "confusing announcements," and a "daily notification," specifying norms for deposits and withdrawal of scrapped notes, the party said people have reached at a "boiling point," even as holidays were declared by banks to "hide non-receipt of (adequate) currency".
It termed the RBI's directive immediately after demonetisation that cooperative banks cannot accept scrapped notes, as "discriminatory" since lakhs of farmers were part of such cooperatives.
AIADMK alleged that micro, small trade was facing sluggishness and mills were curtailing their work force.
The Jayalalithaa-led party also referred to other issues like the Indian rupee hitting a record low level against USD (on November 24, it hit an all-time low of 68.86 against the USD before recovering partially to end the day at 68.73-- a 39-month closing low) besides Nepal banning new Indian Rs 500, Rs 2,000 notes and alleged quality issues in the new notes.

On Wednesday, AIADMK had joined hands with other opposition parties in staging protests both inside and outside Parliament on the demonetisation issue.