NEW DELHI: The Congress is preparing to stage nationwide protests on the second anniversary of demonetisation on November 8. “We will observe November 8 as a black day and hold protests in all states,” a senior AICC functionary told TNIE.
Party insiders said they need to target the government over a disastrous economic policy decision like demonetisation and the poor handling of the economy at a time when elections in five states are just weeks away.
Rahul Gandhi may lead the protest in Delhi, while former prime minister Manmohan Singh or former finance minister P Chidambaram might be fielded to attack the government over demonetisation.
The Congress strategy will focus on how all the listed objectives of demonetisation - curbing black money, curbing terror funding and reducing fake currency in circulation - have not been met.
The party will particularly point out that making a lot of noise about black money in India dented the country’s image abroad but most of the demonetised currency came back in the banks, leaving experts wondering why the “reckless” decision was taken at all.
The Congress will also highlight the fact that note ban took away lakhs of jobs from the informal sector.
“It will be yet another anniversary to mourn the reckless decision of an irresponsible PM who was insensitive in inflicting pains on tens of millions of people leading to not only deaths of almost 150 citizens but a large number of suicides across the country," senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said.