The Congress party marked the second anniversary of demonetisation as a 'black day' for India
In a scathing attack on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said the demonetisation was an "ill-conceived" move.
Mr Chidambaram's statement comes after the BJP celebrated the second anniversary of demonetisation on Thursday. The Congress party marked it as a 'black day' for the Indian democracy and economy.
"Demonetisation was an ill-conceived move, inspired by one or more persons who are totally oblivious of matters concerning money and the economy," Mr Chidambaram told media in Guwahati.
Two years ago, on November 8, the Central government had declared Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes as non-legal and introduced new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes.
Since then, various opposition parties have been highly critical of the Centre's move, while the members of the BJP and its allies have backed the decision.
Despite the government claiming a number of benefits of the demonetisation move, which include wiping out black money and catalysing digital transactions, the move has been widely criticised by Opposition parties in the country.
They have blamed the move of creating widespread chaos and money shortage in the country that resulted in losses, harassment and deaths of many people.
On the second anniversary of demonetisation on Thursday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley posted a strong defense of demonetisation, saying that the note ban had a huge impact on formalising the Indian economy.