Government, Opposition tussle over note ban

New Delhi: As a united Opposition attacked the Narendra Modi government in Parliament on Wednesday for creating an “economic emergency” in the country and making preparations “in the air” for the aftermath of its move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the government said it was a “war on corruption and black money”. Comparing the problems faced by people as temporary “prasavvedna (labour pain)”, the government claimed it would provide long-term gains to the common man. On the first day of the Winter Session, a united Opposition not only attacked the government over the demonetisation issue in the Rajya Sabha but also sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the alleged selective leak of information (on the demonetisation) before the announcement by the Prime Minister.

In the Lok Sabha, minutes before the House assembled for the day, Prime Minister Modi and his senior Cabinet colleagues, including home minister Rajnath Singh and parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar and his deputy S.S. Ahluwalia, walked up to the Opposition benches and exchanged pleasantries. Mr Modi was seen exchanging pleasantries with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders, including AIADMK’s M. Thambi Durai, the deputy speaker, and also enquired about the health of Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa.

The Congress, JD(U), RJD, SP, BSP, TMC, Left parties and the AIADMK attacked the government for its “ill-conceived” and “ill-timed” decision. The government rejected as baseless the Opposition’s charge that there was “leakage” of the November 8 decision and said that everyone was taken by surprise, which is why there were some “initial” problems.

BSP supremo Mayawati said if the government had been preparing for the last 10 months before it announced its demonetisation decision, why was it asking for 50 days more for the situation to normalise. “You only prepared in the air... if you had prepared in advance, the PM would not had to do the emotional dramebaazi (in his Goa and Ghazipur public speeches) ... nor would his mother had to stand in queue (for cash),” said the BSP chief, and added that the decision and the timing of its announcement was an indication that the BJP was in “bad shape” ahead of the coming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. She also thanked BJP ally Shiv Sena for sharing the Opposition’s views on the government’s action.

In the course of the seven-hour debate that still remained inconclusive, there were repeated demands by Opposition members that the Prime Minister should be present in the House to listen to them. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Mr Modi, who did not come to the Rajya Sabha, should at least be present on Thursday and possibly could intervene.

Initiating the debate, Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma said the PM was “insensitive” to the problems caused to the common man by his “ill-timed” and “ill-conceived” move which has unleashed “economic anarchy” in the country and only benefited a few.

Questioning the government’s contention that the step was taken to end the black money menace, Mr Sharma said a bigger Rs 2,000 note has been brought, which was similar to the paper on which churan is sold and “sheds colour”. He alleged the BJP had selectively leaked the information to a few. He quoted some media reports to back his allegation, saying the State Bank of India — the nation’s biggest lender — knew of it way back in March and a Gujarati newspaper had in April published a report of the move to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Referring to Mr Modi’s statement in Goa last week that certain forces were out to eliminate him, he asked him to name the conspirators who wanted to kill the Prime Minister of India. “The Congress will not tolerate anyone planning to harm the Prime Minister of the country,” he said.

At the same time, he took a dig at the PM, saying that someone who “changes his clothes five times a day” had become the country’s PM and travels around the world “calling himself a sanyasi and tapasvi”.

Ram Gopal Yadav, who was expelled from the SP, joined Mr Sharma to allege that information on demonetisation was “leaked” and termed it a scam, while demanding a thorough probe. Mr Yadav said the entire House was against corruption and drug money, but lamented that an impression was being created that those opposing this were against curbs on black money, which was erroneous. He also made a strong pitch for strict action against those using abusive language against Mr Modi in social media.

Defending the decision, power minister Piyush Goyal said the step had been taken in the national interest to end corruption and black money, which was also used for terror activities across the country. He rejected as baseless the Opposition’s charge that there was “leakage” of the decision, and said everyone was taken by surprise. He said most citizens were supportive of the government’s move, and said it would help curb inflation and the tax rate may also come down. Mr Goyal said some pain and difficulty in implementing such a decision was inevitable, but despite that people had strongly supported it. Listing its benefits, Mr Goyal said interest rates will come down, inflation would be curbed and even tax rate would fall.

I&B minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the decision was “literally a war on corruption and black money”, and said the hardships faced by the people were temporary and the demonetisation would provide long-term gains. “The Prime Minister wants a behavioural change in the country. This is a war on corruption and black money and you (Opposition) have to decide which side you are on,” he said, adding that the PM was holding a review meeting every day and the finance minister was closely monitoring the situation.

Earlier, JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav said the sudden move was akin to “jumping out of a moving train” and claimed that unlike the rich, who the PM said were standing in queue, it was the poor, handicapped and elderly people who were doing so to get their hands on their hard-earned money. Mr Yadav also took a dig at finance minister Arun Jaitley, saying he was sure the minister was not part of the decision-making process on demonetisation, because had he been he would surely have tipped him off. This remark left most members, including Mr Jaitley, laughing.

Mr Jaitley, while intervening in the debate, said people trying to adjust their declared black money by showing a sudden jump in their income for the current fiscal could not escape the law by paying tax at the applicable rates. He said this in reply to Akali MP Naresh Gujral’s query that chartered accountants were suggesting that only 30 per cent tax was payable under the current Income-Tax Act. “I think what Mr Gujral is referring to is that if somebody declares it (deposit) as part of his current income, then (it) is taxable at rates provided in the I-T Act... But if the current income becomes suddenly 5,000 per cent of last year’s income, then will it be treated as current income or otherwise,” Mr Jaitley said, adding that the existing laws would apply.