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The Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday again attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was scripted to ‘execute a mammoth scam of Rs 8 lakh crore’.
The prime minister has demonetised high currency notes to waive off Rs 1.14 lakh crore loans of industrialists and he is now planning for another waiver of Rs 8 lakh crore, he said at a party rally in Jaipur.
The Delhi chief minister accused Modi government of sheltering Vijay Mallya and allowing him to fly abroad in lieu of kickbacks. He also alleged that the Rs 1,200 crore loan of the beleaguered liquor baron has been waived.
“Birlas and Saharas were raided by I-T Department when Narendra Modi was the Gujarat chief minister. Huge cash was found but the probe is pending.
“Documents reveal that Birlas paid Rs 12 crore out of 25 crore bribe amount whereas Sahara paid Rs 40 crore,” Kejriwal claimed.
Loans worth crores of industrialists have been waived off by the prime minister but the poor farmers and small traders have not got any relief, he said, adding, in fact, demonetisation has adversely affected their business.
“If Modi wants to curb corruption and bring out black money then he must arrest 648 citizens who have their accounts in Swiss Banks,” he said.
“I have 24 cases against me but in more than a month’s time no case has been registered against me, which means I am speaking the truth,” he said.
Countering audit exemption to political parties on depositing demonetised notes, Kejriwal claimed, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress get 70 to 80 per cent of the donations in cash whereas the AAP gets only 8 per cent.
“Why political parties should be exempted from audit. Before urging people to go cash less, Modi and his partymen should learn to refuse donations in cash,” he said.
“I have researched and understood the Centre concept of demonetisation. Corruption and black money have not eliminated from the system at all.
“People were earlier accepting bribe in Rs 1,000 notes and now they are taking Rs 2,000 notes which is much easier to hoard,” he said.
“Due to demonetisation, only common man has suffered who had to stand in ATM and bank queues,” Kejriwal added.
IMAGE: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a rally in Jaipur on Friday. Photograph: @AamAadmiParty/Twitter