Govt's "reckless decisions" led to slowdown, alleges Sharma

Leader of the Congress party in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma today alleged that "reckless" economic decisions of the Modi government had led to a slowdown and demaded a probe into "huge" deposits in banks ahead of demonetisation.

He claimed that deposits amounting to Rs 3.03 lakh crore were made in banks in the second half of September 2016.

"Out of these deposits worth Rs 1.22 lakh crore were withdrawn and the rest were frozen when it came to the notice of the Reserve Bank of India. A thorough enquiry is required to find out that where the withdrawn money had gone as it appears to be the biggest case of organised money laundering," Sharma alleged while speaking to mediapersons here.
 

The former Union minister also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had caused great inconvenience to people through his demonetisation decision. The decision, he claimed, retarded growth.

The GDP has been falling since six weeks and none of the four stated objectives of demonetisation - that it would unearth black money, weed out counterfeit notes, stop terror funding and curb corruption - have been achieved, Sharma said.

Claiming that the Congress supported the constitutional amendment on GST on the understanding that the Congress model would be followed and the highest tax slab would 10 per cent, he said the government introduced five slabs including the 28 per cent slab which was unacceptable.

The Modi government implemented GST in haste without proper preparations creating chaos, causing harassment to traders and resulting in job losses.

"The impact of GST is visible in Gujrat where the BJP is on a slippery wicket and in Himachal too the people are feeling the heat," he added.

Sharma claimed that it was "unfortunate that the prime minister did not show any humility by accepting the mistake and was in a denial mode".

The government has realised its mistake and tried to make some amendments to pacify the traders in Gujrat but it would have no effect, he said.

Replying to a question, he said that chief minister Virbhadra Singh would be the Congress's chief ministerial candidate and leaders would work for the victory of the party.

He said that the Gujrat and Himachal assembly polls are crucial for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as these would decide the future politics of the country.