PM Narendra Modi said he hoped the Winter Session of the parliament would be fruitful.
Highlights
- Opposition unites against government's ban on notes
- Sudden removal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes unfair to poor: opposition
- PM tells his party's MPs 'people support us, don't be defensive'
On his way into parliament today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is counting on a "fruitful and constructive session" and "good debates with parties presenting their views" on important issues.
As the winter session of parliament begins, the opposition has warned it has much to say, especially on the government's shock decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to curb tax evasion, corruption and money laundering. At different sessions collated by the Congress, opposition parties have met to discuss a united attack on the move, which they say has deeply inconvenienced the poor, leaving them stranded without any cash.
PM Modi has been repeating at rallies that his move is aimed at punishing the corrupt and the rich who dodge taxes, while asking for "just 50 days" to vacuum out large amounts of black or untaxed money. He has repeatedly asked for support and patience in bearing with the inconvenience of a sudden shortage of the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.
A week after his announcement that high-denomination notes were being pulled within hours, banks are cramped with huge crowds of people both inside and outside. Yesterday, the government said that in a tactic borrowed from elections, indelible ink will be used to mark those who have exchanged Rs 4,500 of old notes for new ones, a swap that is permitted once till the new currency is more easily available.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, who heads the country's largest lender, the State Bank of India,
told NDTV yesterday that the situation at banks is improving as the supply of new notes increases and that the "panic will stop when ATMs stop running dry".
Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee is pairing with other parties including, crucially, the Shiv Sena, which is a member of the PM's coalition government,
to march today from parliament to Rashtrapati Bhawan, the presidential palace, to protest against the demonetization and meet with President Pranab Mukherjee.
Briefing his party's MP earlier this week, the PM asserted that "the people are with us" on the ban on notes and asked them to forcefully counter the opposition's criticism.