He asks the government to withdraw demonetisation drive if it is causing hardships to people.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray who has been opposing the demonetisation campaign of the Modi government has demanded a Brexit like referendum for knowing about people’s opinion about currency note ban. Uddhav has been attacking the government for the manner in which it had gone ahead with the demonetising step without proper planning thereby causing huge inconvenience to the common man. He said that people had to bear the brunt of demonetisation as they have to stand in queues outside banks to deposit or exchange money.  Thackeray also termed the move as “extortion of common man” and asked its alliance partner to take former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statements seriously as it came from a renowned economist.
“I will not hesitate in taking a critical stand on the process in which demonetisation was implemented. A referendum was held in Britain to decide whether they should move out of European Union. India too should conduct a referendum on similar lines to know about public views on demonetisation. The government must withdraw demonetisation if it is causing huge hardships to people. They should not ignore the hardships caused to people,” said Uddhav Thackeray.
Shiv Sena supremo has supported former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of demonetisation. He said, “Manmohan Singh had done a good job to revive India’s economy during his tenure as finance minister of the country. The government should consider his views on demonetisation.”
Thackeray also expressed his displeasure over the government seeking people’s opinion through Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s app. Citizens have been asked to answer some questions with regard to scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. He said there was no point in Modi becoming emotional at a time when people have tears in their eyes.
“One person cannot take a decision for 125 crore people. Before taking the decision to demonetise the currency, people should have been taken into confidence,” he said.
Coming down heavily on the government over the issue, Singh castigated the government and the Prime Minister over demonetisation during Rajya Sabha debate, saying its implementation was a “monumental management failure” and a case of “organised loot and legalised plunder”.
Referring to the Reserve Bank’s decision not to allow district central co-operative (DCC) banks to exchange the old currency, the Sena chief asked if liquor baron Vijay Mallya had taken loans from these banks.
“Did Vijay Mallya take loans from any of the DCC banks? Banks from which he did take loans, how have they been allowed to exchange the old currency?” he questioned.
