Rajnath defends note ban, says only 'lotus' will bloom in UP

Taking a dig at SP, BSP and Congress, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise high value currency notes has "frustrated" these parties in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
"The bold and courageous decision (note ban) of PM Modi is an attempt to effectively eliminate corruption and black money and also keep a check on terrorism and fake currency," he said addressing a 'Yuva Sammelan' here.
"Political parties such as JD(U) and others are in favour of demonetisation, but some of the parties in UP are against this move as they are frustrated and nervous," he said.

While defending his government over the inconvenience caused to the public over the move, the Union minister said such bold decisions were made in the interest of the country and that the government was making all out efforts to mitigate the problems.
"The hardships being faced by people in the wake of demonetisation is for a short duration, but the country will benefit from it in the long run," Singh said.
Reacting to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's remark that "an earthquake will come if he is allowed to speak on demonetisation in Parliament", the BJP leader said, "Rahul ne kaha mere bayan se toofan aa jayega, magar wo itne dino tak bolte aaye hain, aaur hawa tak nahi chali hai abtak. (Rahul claimed that if he spoke on demonetisation, a storm would erupt, but he has been speaking for a while and not even the air has moved)."

Expressing confidence in his party's chances in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Singh said in Bhojpuri, "UP mein na Bua chalengi, na Babua aaur na hi Pappua, yaha sirf Phulwa (BJP's election symbol lotus) chalega. (Neither Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav nor Rahul will win the elections in Uttar Pradesh, the lotus--election symbol of BJP will form the government).