Rs 2,000 Notes Withdrawal May Trigger Turmoil: Congress

In a scathing attack on the BJP-led union government, Telangana Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir condemned the recent decision of the Reserve Bank of India to withdraw Rs 2,000 currency notes.

Describing the move as a second demonetisation, Shabbir Ali accused the BJP government of attempting to cover up the failures of the previous demonetisation by withdrawing the notes.

He ridiculed the BJP leaders for defending the decision and referring to it as a "surgical strike" on black money, pointing out that a similar move made during the 2016 demonetisation had proven ineffective.

Shabbir Ali demanded that the union government clarify its motives behind the introduction and subsequent withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 notes. He reminded the public that during the 2016 demonetisation, only 0.7% of the demonetised currency notes were rendered obsolete, falling far short of the government's initial expectations, but that the exercise had huge adverse effects on the Indian economy, including widespread job losses, industrial shutdowns, and a decline in the GDP growth rate by 1.5%. Also, over 100 people had reportedly lost their lives and around 15 lakh jobs were lost after the exercise as estimated by the CMIE.

He added that over the course of two years after the 2016 demonetisation, the RBI had to spend nearly Rs 13,000 crore to remonetise the Indian money market by introducing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.

Shabbir Ali also criticized the government's impulsive decision-making approach and accused it of not considering the consequences beforehand. He claimed that the government's decisions like this had detrimental effects on the economy, and that the current decision might also lead to negative consequences like in 2016.