Nationwide protests held against currency ban

Opposition parties on Monday observed an all-India “Jan Akrosh Diwas” against the Centre’s move to demonetise high-denomination currency, with the Left parties observing a bandh in Tripura and Kerala, while others such as the Trinamool Congress, the DMK and the Congress holding rallies and protests in different parts of the country.

While normal life was not disrupted in most parts except in Left-ruled Kerala and Tripura, in Bihar, where the ruling Janata Dal (United) has backed demonetisation, activists of the CPI (ML)(Liberation) held up trains and blocked roads to express anger over the Centre’s move.

Mamata on the offensive The strongest comments of the day came from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who asserted that she would “either live or die, but remove Narendra Modi from politics”. Banerjee threatened to carry out a demonstration outside the PM’s residence in Delhi, while her party is organises protests in States outside West Bengal. On Tuesday, Banerjee will address a public rally in Uttar Pradesh, a State where her party does not have any mass base.

“People are distressed. I believe such a step has not been taken anywhere in the world. Suddenly Modi ji felt, [and] he acts like God. He has done whatever he wants, without knowing of the consequence. Ask him why there’s scarcity of notes in banks. If there were ample notes in banks, then nothing would have bothered us. Without any proper strategy he took the step,” she said.

“Today, I am taking a pledge that either I’ll die or live, but I will remove PM Modi from politics,” she added. “Markets, movie halls, theatres, art, culture are all on pause now. Hawkers are unable to earn anything. Common people are affected. Let’s fight to find a solution for the common people.”

In Delhi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi reiterated his demand for the PM’s presence in Parliament to give an explanation for the demonetisation move. “Let the PM come and talk to us inside the House,” he said. Gandhi and others were protesting in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament complex.

In Tamil Nadu, hundreds of workers from various Opposition parties led by the DMK were arrested when they staged protests across the State. The parties slammed the ban on notes as a “war on rural poor” that has been causing hardship to the common man.

Stalin arrested DMK Treasurer MK Stalin, State secretaries of CPI(M) and CPI G Ramakrishnan and R Mutharasan respectively, along with a several workers of their parties, were among those arrested when they staged protests in front of Central government offices and nationalised banks, police said.

Kerala shut down In Kerala, a 12-hour strike sponsored by the ruling CPI(M)-led front evoked near-total response. Shops and business establishments downed shutters and the State-run KSRTC and private buses kept off the roads.

State CPI-M Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan attacked the Centre for causing ‘hardship’ to the people in the name of its crackdown on black money. The Opposition Congress-led UDF, which did not participate in the hartal , took out a march to the Raj Bhavan instead, to protest against the Centre’s decision to scrap high-value notes and consequent crisis in the State’s cooperative sector.

In Maharashtra, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) hit the streets, though normal life remained unaffected with no disruption to public transport or functioning of offices and businesses in Mumbai and other parts.

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