Escalating the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his note ban decision is not a fight against black money or corruption but is an "economic robbery".
Addressing a public rally at the University Campus College Grounds in Uttarakhand's Almora, the Congress vice president said the prime minister has put "99 per cent people" in the country to hardships and not targeted the "1 per cent super rich" who "held all the black money".
He said his party wants to eradicate corruption and if "Modiji takes any step against the menace, the Congress party will lend its hundred per cent support".
"But this note ban step is not a decision against black money and corruption. This note ban is an economic robbery. It is an attack on the pooor of the country," he said.
Gandhi asked the prime minister to name those "thieves" who own the black money stashed in Swiss banks.
"The Swiss government has provided the list of all black-money holders to the Modi government. Why does he not place the list of thieves before the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha? We want to know who are these thieves. You should put their names before the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," he said.
"Why didn't you bring back (Vijay) Mallya and Lalit Modi from London?" he asked.
Gandhi accused Modi of snatching away the hard-earned money of the country's poor and giving them to banks to write off bad loans. He said demonetisation was introduced to waive Rs 8 lakh crore loans the "super rich" owe.
"Gareebon ka paisa kheencho, amiron ko seencho. 99 per cent imaandaar ka paisa kheencho, 50 pariwaron ko seencho. Yeh hai notebandi ki sachhai, (Take away the money from the poor and help the rich. Take away the money from the 99 per cent honest people and help the 50 super-rich families. This is the truth of note ban)." he said.
He used an Amitabh Bachchan song to attack Modi and said his motive is "Ram naam japna, garibon ka maal apna".
"Suck the poor and serve the rich - this is the reality of the suit-boot wali sarkar," he said.
He also accused the central government of being callous to people's suffering and claimed the Opposition was not even allowed to mourn the "death of 100 people due to demonetisation".
Gandhi also accused the prime minister of not listening to the farmers and waiving their loans, but "waiving Rs 1.40 lakh crore in loans of 15 super rich people".
He also accused Modi of causing big damage to farmers and for "making fun" of their labour by stating they only dig holes. "Modiji! India's labourers don't dig holes, they build India and help the country stand up," he said.
He said under the NDA government, 1 per cent of Indians have 60 per cent of the wealth, but the other 99 per cent don't have black money.
The Congress leader said 94 per cent of the black money is in Swiss Bank accounts, and in the form of gold and land, and just 6 per cent is in cash.
"I don't know why Prime Minister Modi has made this 6 per cent black money his target and not the 94 per cent," he wondered.
Addressing the rally in the poll-bound state, he also alleged while Modi did not give Uttarakhand Rs 60,000 crore required for its development in the aftermath of the 2013 floods, he gave a "Rs 1,200-crore toffee to Vijay Mallya" instead.
"They say note ban is a surgical strike on corruption. But no, this is fire-bombing on India's poor," he said, adding "more people were killed in fire-bombing during WW-II than in Hiroshima".
He accused the prime minister of making the whole country stand in queues.
"By putting the one-time withdrawal limit at Rs 24,000, Modi's intention was to make your cash flow into your bank accounts and remain stuck there long enough to waive the loans taken by the 1 per cent super rich families," he said.
He said demonitisation was not a surgical strike on corruption and black money as projected by the prime minister and his ministers.
He said five per cent of every online transaction in a cashless economy will go to "those 50 families".
He reiterated his charge of "crores of rupees" allegedly being paid to Modi by business houses on different occasions when he was Gujarat Chief Minister and asked him to reply to the charges.
© 2024 Rediff.com -