The Opposition slammed the BJP for celebrating the first anniversary of demonetisation and said it was for the first time that a government was celebrating death and misery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP’s celebration of ‘Anti Black Money Day’, and said the decision helped the Centre uproot corruption and black money, formalise the economy and ensure better jobs for the poor. The Congress, which observed a ‘Black Day’, said demonetisation was a tragedy. “We stand with millions of honest Indians, whose lives and livelihoods were destroyed by PM’s thoughtless act,” party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

The Congress and the Left parties held separate protest marches here against the Centre. “The double whammy of demonetisation and GST is now being felt across the country. It is not the Congress alone which is saying it; it is the universal opinion of almost every economic expert. It has destroyed not only India’s growth story, but has also rendered crores of people jobless as businesses have also shut down and that is something that Prime Minister should apologise for,” Surjewala added.

The Left parties said the Centre was “celebrating” death and suffering. “The Modi government has created two records in the world. One, it made people stand in queues and many people lost their lives. Second, though Modi tried to tell the people and the world that by demonetisation he would stop black money, in reality he has helped hoarders change black money into white,” CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said.

The BJP said Rahul used a fake picture on his Twitter page. BJP president Amit Shah alleged that the Amethi MP was trying to mislead the nation on the issue of demonetisation. “It is deplorable how Rahul Gandhi believes in ‘manufacturing tragedies’, so much so that he is also using the poor of India to score cheap political points,” Shah said.

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