Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the occasion of completion of 10 years of demonetization. Describing demonetization as an 'ocean of corruption', he said that this decision destroyed the country's economy and caused harm to everyone from small businessmen to the general public like slow poison.
He claimed that demonetisation would now cause 'vote ban' for the BJP. The fight for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh will not be 80-20 or 20-80, but 95-5 and BJP will not even be recognized.
Akhilesh Yadav was talking to journalists at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. He said that not a single one of the big claims made by the Central Government at the time of demonetization was fulfilled. Despite this, today the use of cash in the market has increased to about 70 percent. Due to demonetization, many small and big factories were closed and many industries have not been able to recover from that loss till date.
He said that demonetization deeply hurt the country's economy. Common people and businessmen had to bear the brunt of the economic decisions of the BJP government. Questioning the functioning of banks, he alleged that the banking system has become such that 'your account and you are the loss'.
Money is being deducted from the accounts of common people in the name of penalty. He said that BJP has made the banking system more dangerous than the moneylenders.
Akhilesh took a jibe at BJP by referring to 'Khajanchi', a child born in a bank queue during demonetisation. He said that Khazanchi has turned ten years old today, but BJP has not celebrated his birthday till date. BJP should now adopt it, but not the way its leaders adopted the villages. Even today the Samajwadi family is taking care of the education and care of the treasurer.
He quipped that the 2000 rupee note was also born with the birth of the cashier. The cashier sometimes cries and asks what happened to his friend who had a Rs 2,000 note with him and why he was sent away.
Akhilesh also raised questions on the goal of Developed India-2047 and said that BJP leaders are talking about 2047, while decisions like demonetization have pushed the country's economy backward. He challenged the BJP leaders to hold an open debate on the issue if their allegations were found to be false.
Akhilesh also targeted the government regarding the special revision of the voter list and the possibility of deletion of names of about 1.27 crore voters. He sarcastically said that the news of recovery of ganja worth Rs 1 crore 27 lakh is being published in newspapers and on the other hand the news of 1.27 crore votes being cast is coming to the fore. It's a strange coordination.
To ensure transparency in the voter list, he suggested that voters should be given strong metal cards and the voter list should be linked to Aadhaar. Biometric machines are available in every Gram Sabha, in such a situation the system of biometric verification can also be implemented for identification of voters during voting.
Akhilesh Yadav said that those who used to talk big about Digital India and promote companies like Paytm, are today avoiding answers regarding digital system and banking reforms. He accused BJP of diverting attention from the issues and doing only copy-paste politics.
The SP President also cornered the Yogi government regarding the law and order issue of the state. He said that corruption is at its peak in Uttar Pradesh. Even after the Hathras incident, incidents of crime against women have not stopped, rather more painful incidents are coming to light. The SP government had given the best police response system in the country, which was ruined by the BJP government.
He alleged that the people of the state are losing confidence in the Uttar Pradesh Police. Many times the Supreme Court and the High Court have also commented on the functioning of the police. False cases are being filed against SP leaders.