'Tughlaqi Demonetisation Drama': Mamata After RBI Withdraws Rs 2,000 Notes

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday attacked the Centre over the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation and called it the 'Tughlaqi demonetisation drama'. Taking to her official Twitter account, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said that such 'imperious measures' are meant to 'camouflage the fundamentally anti-people and crony capitalist nature of this regime'.

"Another whimsical & Tughlaqi demonetisation drama of Rs. 2000 notes will hit the common people hard once again by subjecting them to massive harassment," Mamata Banerjee tweeted.

She added that 'such misadventures' by an 'oligarchic and authoritarian' government will not be forgotten by the people at large at the time of reckoning.

Another whimsical & Tughlaqi demonetisation drama of Rs.2000 notes will hit the common people hard once again by subjecting them to massive harassment. These imperious measures are meant to camouflage the fundamentally anti-people & crony capitalist nature of this regime. Such… — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 20, 2023

In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation but gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit Rs 2,000 currency notes in accounts or exchange them at banks. It said it had asked banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 notes with immediate effect.

The RBI said it has also been observed that the Rs 2,000 denomination note is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public.

"In view of the above, and in pursuance of the 'Clean Note Policy' of the Reserve Bank of India, it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation," it said.

The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

Congress slams RBI's Rs 2,000 note withdrawal, BJP hits back

Congress also slammed the Centre over the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation and wondered if this was the second 'notebandi' exercise. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for an impartial probe into the entire episode.

In a tweet in Hindi, he said, "You inflicted a deep wound on the economy with the first demonetisation. Due to this, the entire unorganised sector was destroyed, MSMEs were closed down and crores of jobs were lost.

He added that only an 'unbiased investigation' will reveal the truth of the matter.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected this was any sort of demonetisation and instead reminded Congress that even during the rule of Manmohan Singh, old currency notes were taken off circulation.

At a press conference in Patna, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad when asked about the move said, "The RBI has put out a detailed communication clearly explaining how the use of these high denomination notes was dwindling. We would like to remind our Congress friends that even during the rule of Manmohan Singh, old currency notes used to be taken off circulation. Hence they (Congress) must not call it notebandi."

He added that if these notes were in use for laundering money, scrapping these will hit such networks.