Congress on Tuesday broadened its attack on demonetisation with former finance minister P Chidambaram calling for a probe into how freshy-minted Rs 2000 notes got into the hands of hoarders while there was an acute shortage in banks.
He said most people including him were struggling to get cash because it was not available in banks and ATMs while seizures by enforcement agencies showed bundles of Rs 2000 notes with hoarders.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "shifting goalposts" by talking on cashless economy after initially pitching it as an anti-black money move Chidambaram said: "In his November 8 speech PM Modi mentioned the word black money 18 times. In his two speeches on November 27 he mentioned black money 8 times and cashless economy 27 times."
He pointed out that no country is actually cashless and that especially in India low-value transactions are always done in currency notes.
Calling demonetisation a "thoughtless, meaningless" move he said it will irrepairably damage 45 crore people of the country who depended on daily wages for their livelihood.
"45 crore people in this country depend on their daily income. Tomorrow nobody will compensate them for that," he said.
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