- Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at PM Modi over RBI’s decision to withdraw its highest-value currency notes from circulation.
- Over six years after introducing the RBI announced the withdrawal of ₹2,000 currency notes from circulation. However, it clarified that the currency will continue to be the legal tender.
- RBI has given the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.
- This move led to several opposition parties targeting PM Modi and his government.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) decision to withdraw its highest-value currency notes from circulation, saying “That is why the PM needs to be educated”.
“First, they said that by bringing 2000 notes, corruption will stop. Now they are saying that by banning 2000 notes, corruption will end. That’s why we say, PM should be educated. Anyone can say anything to an illiterate PM. He doesn’t understand. The public has to suffer,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
Over six years after introducing them, the RBI announced the withdrawal of ₹2,000 currency notes from circulation. However, it clarified that the currency will continue to be the legal tender. The central bank has given the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.
Notably, the ₹2,000 note was introduced in November 2016 – primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 bank notes that were in circulation at that time. While the RBI did not specify a limit for depositing the ₹2,000 currency notes in bank accounts, the exchange of a maximum of ₹20,000 (10 notes of ₹2,000) for other currency notes will be allowed at a time.
This move led to several opposition parties targeting PM Modi and his government.
“Typical of our self-styled Vishwaguru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2,000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous ‘Tughlaqi firman’ of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the move “virtually reverses the 2016 demonetization, grandly announced by Modi as the answer to India’s problems of black money, corruption, terrorist funding, and promoting digital economy”. “Modi made DeMon disaster criminally crippled crores of livelihoods, claimed hundreds of lives, destroying the informal economy and MSMEs that contribute most to employment generation and GDP growth,” he wrote on Twitter.
(With inputs from agencies)
