Note ban: Delhi Assembly calls for emergency session

New Delhi: The Delhi Government has convened an emergency session of the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the situation arising out of demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupees notes.

The decision to this effect was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Briefing reporters, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government has also decided to deploy its civil defence volunteers near ATMs and bank branches to help the people in queues.

He also demanded roll back of the decision of demonetisation of high value notes and bring it after a well chalked out plan.

He had earlier dubbing the demonetisation of high currency notes as a "huge scam", and alleged that BJP had told all its "friends" about the move much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement and demanded its immediate roll back.

He termed the Centre's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as "surgical strike" on common man's "small savings" and not on "black marketeers".

To substantiate his claim, Kejriwal alleged that Sanjeev Kamboj, who heads BJP's Punjab legal cell, was seen with new notes of Rs 2,000 on social media days before the Prime Minister announced withdrawing high value currency.

Kejriwal also posed three questions to the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on withdrawing higher currency notes.

"What according to the Prime Minister is the definition of black money? Have India's top industrialists - Ambani, Adani, Sharad Pawar, Subhash Chandra and Badal amassed black money or the common man like farmers, rickshaw-pullers, shopkeepers and labourers did.”

"BJP should disclose a list of all its friends whom it had told about the demonetisation much before the Prime Minister's announcement and that settled their black money," he said.