"Those Out On Bail Giving Honesty Certificates": PM's Dig At Gandhis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today retaliated to Rahul Gandhi's attacks on his government over demonetisation, saying since he and his mother Sonia Gandhi are out on bail, they should not be questioning anyone's honesty.

Rahul Gandhi -- who has secured bail in the National Herald case along with his mother -- has consistently been questioning the benefits of note ban in the run-up to the assembly elections in five states. He has repeatedly questioned PM Modi's silence on the issue.  

Today, at an election rally in Chhattisgarh, the Prime Minister said, "The mother-son duo who are out on bail are giving me a certificate and asking from me the benefits of demonetization... Those who are out on bail are distributing certificates of honesty... They forget that it was due demonetisation that they had to seek bail".

Last week, on the second anniversary of demonetization, Mr Gandhi had had called notes ban a "monumental blunder". The government's spin doctors including "our incompetent finance minister" now have the "unenviable task of defending an indefensible, criminal policy," his statement read.

The Congress contends that the economy is yet to recover from the effects of demonetization, which, it claims, was a "scam to convert black money to white". Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a noted economist, said, "scars" of demonetization were only getting "more visible with time".

The BJP claims demonetization has led to a host of positive spinoffs, including increase in tax base, curbing black money and hitting Maoists. Union minister Arun Jaitley had called the notes ban a "key step in a chain of important decisions taken by the government to formalize the economy".