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Indian opposition parties attack Modi over cash ban, demand his resignation

Xinhua, December 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

India's opposition parties, led by the Congress, on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apparently demanded his resignation over the cash ban, with Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi asking him "what will he do for those affected by demonetisation?"

"The prime minister should answer the nation what was the real motive of demonetisation and what will he do for the poor people affected by it. Demonetisation has made no impact on black money. It is an attack on financial independence, poor people," the Congress vice president, said.

"This demonetisation has done absolutely nothing against corruption. What it has done instead, is to leave people without any money. This has been a complete failure on part of the government," Gandhi said.

Stating that December 30 is about to come, he said that the situation of cash crunch has not yet eased. "The motive of demonetisation has failed completely," he said, flanked by leaders of other opposition parties at a joint media meeting in the national capital.

Raking the allegations of Modi taking money from corporate houses when he was the chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, the Congress vice president said that "Narendra Modi says he is fighting corruption but not answering allegations of personal corruption against him."

"As the prime minister, he should have been the first person to ask for a probe against any allegations against him. If nothing comes out of the probe, then it's fine," Gandhi said.

Another opposition leader Mamata Banerjee of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal-based Trinamool Congress termed demonetisation "a mega scam, one of the biggest one after independence" and claimed that Modi has pushed India back "by 20 years" by imposing cash ban.

"If things remain unresolved even after 50 days, will Modi take responsibility and resign as the prime minister of the country? Modi had said the good days will come. Is this a sample of his achche din (good days)?" she asked.

"In the name of cashless, the Modi government has gone baselss and total faceless. They do whatever they feel like like. The federal structure is totally destroyed. It is not emergency, it is super emergency," the Trinmool Congress head said. Endit