New Delhi: Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of raking up the AgustaWestland issue to divert attention from demonetisation and said the note ban is an "unprecedented" decision which has hit more than 100 crore people in the world in one stroke.
He also accused the Prime Minister of bringing in demonetisation solely to help BJP in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and other states.
Chavan advocated a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the scrapping of high-value notes which he said was an "unmitigated disaster" and a "terror attack on the economy".
He said the government should admit that demonetisation has proved to be a "blunder" as it has put everyone, barring the "super rich" and those with black money, to a lot of inconveniences.
The former Maharashtra chief minister said the way things were unfolding in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case smacks of "political vendetta".
"What was the government doing for the past two-and-a-half years? Why now and not earlier? This is a political vendetta.
The manner in which names have been leaked and rumour mongering is going on... CBI should do its work. It does not need any permission," he said.
He said speculation was rife about government mulling discontinuing Rs 2,000 note and said it should make its stand clear in this regard.
"It is clear that this was done only to help BJP handle cash in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and other states. We demand that the government clarify its stand on continuing with Rs 2,000 rupee note. Is it part two of the surgical strike on the economy?" he asked.
"We believed that this was an unprecedented action to fight terrorism, eliminate black economy and uproot corruption. The entire country and Congress supports any move to fight black money, terrorism, and counterfeit currency.
"Everyone believed that with all resources at his disposal, PM had planned and calibrated every step carefully and a complete road map was ready. But after witnessing the events in the last one month, the whole exercise has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster," he said.
Chavan said "unimaginable hardship and pain" has been inflicted on ordinary citizens and more than 70 people have died while waiting in queues to withdraw cash from ATMs.
"Every section of the society, except those the super rich and those who have lots of black money, have suffered untold misery," he said adding "it is a terror attack on the economy".
He said the Modi government should answer if the objectives of the move have been met.
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