Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) President Kuldeeep Singh Rathore said the BJP’s ‘Notebandi’ destroyed Indian economy immensely and still till date many sectors have not revived due to its negative effects.
While addressing media persons here on Sunday on the fourth anniversary of demonetization, he said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s disastrous autocratic decision in the name of demonetization four years ago was nothing less than the biggest scam of the century.
“The worst outcome was the major blow to the industrial sector that led to closure of thousands of industries, resulting in loss of jobs and unemployment,” he rued, adding that the Congress party is observing this day as ‘Vishwasghaat Diwas’ (Betrayal day) as over 125 crore people of India were forced to bear the brunt of fatal consequences of demonetization.
Lambasting the Modi government, he alleged that the very motive of demonetization was organized loot and legalized plunder, as rightly explained by former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.
The draconian decision also took a toll on hundreds of human lives, while they waited in long queues outside banks, shut-down of medium and small scale industries, loss of crores of jobs and a severe drop of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2%, which has further seen a decrease in 2020.
Reminding the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to get the plaque of the foundation stone of Atal Tunnel Rohtang reinstalled, Rathore warned that if it was not restored at the earliest, his party will resort to massive agitation across the state. Congress party workers in Kullu and Keylong are already protesting demanding restoration of the plaque.
Questioning the delay in re-installation of the plaque, when the Chief Minister had already clarified that the plaque is with the Border Road Organization (BRO), he said that Thakur should initiate order to restore the plaque of the foundation stone of Atal Tunnel Rohtang laid by AICC President Sonia Gandhi on 28 June 2010 to its original place.
“The plaque in question is significant as it is about the democratic traditions and history of our country. Congress party cannot tolerate any kind of tampering with the democratic setup at any cost,” he added.
