Jumping into a well also radical: Arun Shourie's jab at demonetisation

Former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Thursday mocked the claim of demonetisation of high-value currency being a radical measure, stating that jumping into well or committing suicide is also radical.

Everybody will say it is a wonderful move going by its stated objective which is to strike at black money but it was not a “thought-through” exercise, said the former Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has often flayed the Modi government’s policies.

“This is a strike not on black money but on legal tender of India, its currency. This is a strike on cash transactions,” he told NDTV in an interview.

Shourie said the demonetisation move showed lack of domain expertise on part of the government.

He said to kill a mosquito, an axe should not be wielded.

He claimed that the move has been carried out in the "cycle of surgical strikes" and it may lead to smaller parties joining hands to take on the BJP in the future.

The senior leader said the government has been "carried away" by the big idea to combat black money.