New Delhi: The Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over the RBI announcement on the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, saying the move was "typical of our self-styled vishwaguru" and his method of "first act, second think".
The opposition party also said demonetisation has come a full circle and added that the Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising" Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
A party MP said it was the beginning of a second demonetisation "disaster", in an apparent reference to the demonetisation exercise of November 8, 2016, when the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes was withdrawn by the Modi government.
"Typical of our self-styled Vishwaguru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous 'Tughlaqi firman' of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, targeting the prime minister.
Senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said a few weeks after demonetisation, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were forced to re-introduce the Rs 500 note and he will not be surprised if the Centre re-introduces the Rs 1,000 note as well.
"The Rs 2000 note is hardly a popular medium of exchange. We said this in November 2016 and we have been proved correct. The Rs 2,000 note was a band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes which were popular and widely exchanged currencies," he said on Twitter.
The Congress leader said that "a few weeks after demonetisation, the government/RBI were forced to re-introduce the Rs 500 note". "I shall not be surprised if the government/RBI re-introduced the Rs 1,000 note as well. Demonetisation has come full circle," he said.
"Rs 2,000 note was never a 'clean' note. It was not used by the vast majority of the people. It was used only by people to keep their black money, temporarily," the former finance minister said.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the "ghost" of November 8, 2016, has come back to haunt the nation once again.
"The greatly propagated move of demonetisation continues to be a monumental disaster for this nation. The PM sermoned the nation on the benefits of the new 2,000 notes, today when the printing is stopped what happened to all those promises," he asked.
"The government must explain its motive for such a step. The government continues its anti-people and anti-poor agenda. Hope the media questions the government on such a drastic measure and not attribute it to 'chip shortage' in the world," Khera said in a tweet.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore tweeted, "Second Demo disaster starts .. M = Madness."
The RBI on Friday announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, and existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30.
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 the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes that were in circulation at that time.