KOTTAYAM: Continuing his focus on national politics, former Kerala chief minister Oommen
Chandy targeted the Central government for the second consecutive time on Sunday, alleging that the Prime Minister failed miserably in attaining the goals which he had claimed to achieve with the demonetisation drive.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Chandy also held the Prime Minister accountable for destabilising the country's federal system by not convening a meeting of Chief Ministers to discuss the unprecedented circumstances that emerged after demonetisation.
According to Chandy, demonetisation has varied impacts on different States and Modi should have made discussions with Chief Ministers in this regard. “If Modi had opted a democratic line, he would have
convened a meeting of Chief Ministers by now. India has a federal system. Being one of the major and prolonged impasses in Independent India, it affected differently in different states and hence its remedies should also be state-centric. For that, Modi must convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers and must take their opinion in to consideration. However, even 50 days passed after his steps failed, he was not ready to convene such a meeting, which indicates that he doesn’t want to opt a democratic path,” he said.
Chandy added that Modi also disappointed people by abstaining from disclosing the progress in attaining
the proclaimed objectives of demonetisation. “He didn’t speak about the achievements
of people with demonetisation. More importantly, he didn’t utter a word on remedies and how many
days it will take to end the people's suffering owing to currency crunch,” he said.
Chandy added that Modi could not come far near the proclaimed achievements of
demonetisation. “Modi didn’t announce any new currency relief measures only because things are completely out of his control. All his calculations went wrong. In fact, his move without taking anybody in to confidence has pulled him in a quagmire. He didn’t even trust his Cabinet,” Chandy said.
Chandy also accused Modi and BJP for not discussing the matter in the Parliament, given the depth and intensity of the issue.