Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram has hit out at the BJP for its Rs 2000 note withdrawal move, stating that the Rs 2000 note only helped keepers of black money to hoard their money with ease.
The State Bank of India clarified on Sunday that no identity, no forms and no proof will be required to exchange the Rs 2000 notes. To this, Chidambaram said the BJP's spin that the Rs 2000 notes are being withdrawn to unearth black money stands demolished.
"Ordinary people do not have Rs 2000 notes. They shunned it soon after it was introduced in 2016. They were useless for daily retail exchange. So, who kept the Rs 2000 notes and used them? You know the answer," Chidambaram tweeted.
He alleged that the Rs 2000 note only helped keepers of black money to hoard their money with ease. "The keepers of Rs 2000 notes are being welcomed on a red carpet to exchange their notes! So much for the government's declared objective of rooting out black money. The Rs 2000 note was a foolish move in 2016. I am glad that the foolish move is being withdrawn at least seven years later," Chidambaram tweeted.
The Congress leader on Friday last had hit out at the government after the RBI's announcement, saying the Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid" to cover up the "foolish decision" of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
The former Union finance minister had said that a few weeks after demonetisation, the government and the 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.
He had earlier said that the Rs 2000 note was hardly a popular medium of exchange. "We said this in November 2016 and we have been proven correct," said the Congress leader.