Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterpart in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, jointly addressed a rally in Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi demanding that the central government revoke the ban on currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 within three days or they will intensify their protest.
During the rally Mamata, who looked very agitated started off her speech by calling demonetisation an ‘economic emergency’. She also said, “There is financial crisis in the country and people suffering due to the same.”
“Have you ever seen a situation like this before? This is unprecedented. They used to say achche din aa rahe hain. Now they are sleeping in their houses while the aam aadmi is crying,” she said.
“They first said take Rs. 4500, now it’s Rs. 2000. What’s going in his (PM’s) head? There is some problem with his head,” Mamata lashed out.
“He is giving us alms – sometimes Rs. 4500, sometimes Rs. 2000. He now wants ink on your fingers, because his face is smeared with ink,” she said.
“If you have courage, send us to jail or shoot us…But we will continue fighting,” she said.
Accusing the government of trying to sell the country, Banerjee called the prevailing situation worse than the 1975 emergency. “They want to sell this country. They are trying to break the constitution. We cannot allow that,” the TMC chief said at the rally.
Kejriwal, speaking after Banerjee, took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly and accused him of helping liquor baron Vijay Mallya flee the country. He said while common people are standing in queues outside banks and ATMs, Mallya was enjoying in London.
He said that demonetisation is the biggest scam of Independent India. “People will deposit Rs.10 lakh crore and Modiji will waive off loans amounting to Rs. 8 lakh crore given to his corporate friends,” he claimed.
Till date, around 40 people have died while standing in queues. “Is this patriotism according to Mr. Modiji? Who is responsible for the death of these people?” he asked.
“Common people are standing in queues. People’s marriages are being broken and there are others killing themselves. Who is responsible for their deaths?” the Delhi CM added.
