You Should Apologise, Not Me, Ghulam Nabi Azad Tells Government

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day again on Friday, the third day of the winter session of Parliament, as a united opposition continued to attack the government on the currency ban. The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned multiple times for short periods as lawmakers of the ruling BJP demanded that Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad apologise for his comments in the house yesterday.

"The statement made by Ghulam Nabi Azad that demonetisation has killed more people than the Uri terror attack is condemnable. He must apologise to the nation." said union minister Muqtar Abbas Naqvi said soon after the Rajya Sabha convened this morning.

But Mr Azad, whose comments were expunged or deleted from records by the upper house yesterday, has refused to apologise. "The BJP should apologise to the 125 crore people of the nation for pushing the country to an edge," he said outside parliament.

In September this year, Pakistani terrorists had attacked an Army base camp in Kashmir's Uri. 19 soldiers were killed. Amid huge public anger and grief, the Indian Army had days later conducted surgical strikes against terror bases across the Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said yesterday that Mr Azad's remarks showed "the frustration and desperation of the Congress's top leadership following the positive response from the public to the demonetisation move."  

The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the government of making an ill-planned announcement abolishing high value notes that made up 86 per cent of the money in circulation, without thought to the hardship that it would cause to the common people, who have had to queue up for hours for rationed new currency amid a cash crunch.

They have disrupted parliament proceedings in both houses - in the Rajya Sabha to demand that the Prime Minister answer their questions on the notes ban and in the Lok Sabha that a discussion be held on the ban ending in a vote.

The government has said no to both demands. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also reiterated on Thursday that there will no rollback on the government's decision to ban 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, aimed at eliminating black or untaxed money.

But government sources said the Prime Minister could speak in the Lok Sabha next week, when the lower house discusses the notes ban. The government reckons that the cash crunch situation will have eased considerably by next week when the discussion is likely to take place.