Cash crunch: Rahul says terror of demonetisation is back
Amethi, April 17: With ATMs suddenly running dry in several states, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the "terror" of demonetisation has returned to haunt the country, slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he described as destroying India's banking system.
He took to Twitter to take a poetic dig at the Prime Minister and also spoke to reporters here, alleging that Modi has assured "acchhe din" for fugitive jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, leaving the poor of the country high and dry.
"Understand the deceit of demonetisation, your money goes into the pocket of Nirav Modi. Modiji's fascination for (Vijay) Mallya, the terror of note-bandi spreads again. The ATMs of the country are empty again, what is the condition of banks," Gandhi asked on the second day of his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency.
He criticised Modi for his silence on the banking frauds allegedly committed by the diamond merchants who have fled the country.
"Modiji destroyed the banking system. Nirav Modi fled with Rs 30,000 crore and the Prime Minister didn't utter a word," Gandhi said.
"We were forced to stand in queues as he snatched Rs 500-1,000 notes from our pockets and put them in Nirav Modi's pocket."
He was replying to reporters' questions about the current cash crunch with ATMs running out of notes across the country.
Gandhi dared Modi to allow him to speak in the Lok Sabha for 15 minutes, saying the Prime Minister was scared of speaking in Parliament during the second half of the just concluded Budget Session which was completely washed out in protests.
"Had we been allowed to speak in Parliament on Rafael (jets) issue, Nirav Modi matter, the Prime Minister won't be able to stand," he said.
The Congress President said Modi personally knew Nirav Modi and Choksi and called them by first names "Nirav bhai and Mehul bhai".
"The 'acchhe din' he (the Prime Minister) had promised for the nation have ushered only for 15 persons, including Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. For the poor of this country, including farmers, labourers and daily-wagers, it is all 'bure din'."
Addressing a public rally after inaugurating more than a dozen developmental projects in Jagesarpur in Amethi, the Congress chief said while the Prime Minister boasted of a "56-inch chest", in reality he has no place for the poor in his heart.
He also targeted the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state, saying there had been no development in the past one year.
Accusing the Prime Minister of inciting passions on lines of community and religion, Gandhi said the Congress was fighting a battle of ideology with the BJP and would win.
Pointing out how the Union government had waived off loans worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore of the rich and elite, he sought similar debt waiver for farmers.
He said he had once made such a request to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley but was told there was no such provision.
Gandhi also questioned the track record of the Modi government in providing jobs to the unemployed youth.
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Rupee falls 5 paise to 90.23 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 90.23 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, driven by rising crude oil prices and an unabated outflow of foreign funds.
According to forex traders, a volatile geopolitical situation and concerns over further US tariffs on Indian exports fueled the selling of Indian stocks by foreign institutional investors, even as traders awaited cues from macroeconomic data to be released this week.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.23 and stayed weaker by 5 paise from its previous closing level.
On Friday, the rupee fell 28 paise to close at 90.18 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 per cent lower at 98.75.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.13 per cent higher at USD 63.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 356.49 points or 0.43 per cent to 83,219.75, while the Nifty dipped 94.90 points or 0.37 per cent to 25,588.40.
Analysts said several factors like the development related to Venezuela, Iran and US President Donald Trump's possible move towards Greenland are influencing the sentiment worldwide.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,769.31 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday showed India's forex reserves dropped by USD 9.809 billion to USD 686.801 billion in the week to January 2. In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by USD 3.293 billion to USD 696.61 billion.
