BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday asked the Union government why raids and arrests in connection with unaccounted money were carried out only in states not ruled by BJP.
He was speaking at the Janavedhana convention organised at Palace Grounds in connection with the Centre’s demonetisation move here.
“The raids and arrests are carried out only in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. What about Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan? There have been no arrests or raids in BJP-ruled states. Does that mean that there is no black money in those states?” he questioned.
Taking on BJP national president Amit Shah, Siddaramaiah said, “Amit Shah says the Congress government in Karnataka is corrupt. He has forgotten that BJP leaders like B S Yeddyurappa, former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa and former ministers G Janardhana Reddy and Katta Subramanya Naidu were charged with corruption. Some of them were also jailed.”
The CM said the Congress had previously demonetised large denomination currency in 1974 but that was only 2 percent of the total cash flow in the country.
But now, of the Rs 17.9 lakh crore money that was in circulation, Rs 14.55 lakh crore was in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination. “By demonetising 86 percent of the cash, Modi has devastated lives of the poor people. Economists like Amartya Sen have criticised the demonetisation move,” he said.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “Modi, who falsely promised he will change the 70-year-old economy in 50 days, does not have answers on how much black money is present in the country and how much is with terrorists. About 32 percent of the Indian population is poor. He announced demonetisation without discussing with experts.”
Former Union minister Anand Sharma too lashed out. “Will debit and credit cards be given to middle and poor class people for a cashless economy? Modi has turned out to be a brand ambassador of Paytm to promote online transaction.”