Black money holders knew of demonetisation in advance; poor are suffering: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

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Lashing out at the Centre, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday asserted that the move to demonetise 500 and 1000 Rupee notes was futile as the black money lobby was prior informed and were prepared for it, which only left the common man to suffer.

Speaking to the media here, Vijayan stated that the Centre's move has become nothing but a hurdle for common citizens.

"We stand in the fight against black money, but this step does not help. The withdrawal of currency is not meant to bring out the black money. The black money lobby was prior informed and they could exchange the money. Only the common people did not know about this and are suffering. Union government should intervene and take necessary arrangements," Vijayan said.

Calling on the government to intervene and help out the common man in trying to adjust to the radical development, he further said that the Centre should extend the deadline to use old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes till 30 December.

The Chief Minister also announced a relief measure for the people of the state, saying that the Kerala government will not collect any kind of fine for payments using old notes and that people can pay the bills without fine till 30 November.

Vijayan's statement comes in the wake of the attack on the Centre by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who said that the entire development was a huge scam by the NDA and that the Prime Minister and the BJP had tipped off a few individuals before implementing it.

Kejriwal said there had been significant misreporting on the money deposits made at banks. "In previous quarters, deposits in banks were negative. But in the July-to-September quarter, such large amounts were being deposited in the banks. Who did all this money belong to?" he asked.

"They are claiming that a lot of money will now come into the system. In the name of battling corruption, the only thing that is going to happen is that a lot of money is merely going to change hands. And for this, the people are being inconvenienced," Kejriwal said.

Echoing similar sentiments, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee branded the move to demonetise as a "heartless and ill- conceived blow", adding that the Prime Minister is only trying to divert attention from his failure to bring back black money.

"The PM could not get back the promised black money from abroad from the rich so a drama to divert his failure," she tweeted minutes after the announcement by Prime Minister Modi.

--ANI