Demonetisation of banknotes in India: some political reactions

Queue at an ATM for money in Howrah, West Bengal, on 8 November 2016

Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes invalid on Tuesday in a sudden and unexpected move for demonetisation of high value banknotes and replacing them with newly printed notes of denominations Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, he has got a mixed bag of reactions. Some are hailing the move while some others are severely criticizing it. How some of the politicians reacted to the move are below.

Indian National Congress criticised the central government's move to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said that it shows how little Narendra Modi cares about ordinary people. On November 11 Gandhi stood in queue outside the State Bank of India on Parliament Street in New Delhi to experience the ‘pain of the people’. He talked to some people to know their troubles. He said to news reporters who interviewed him, “Poor people are in trouble, I am here to get Rs 4, 000 exchanged. Neither you (the reporters) nor your crorepati owners nor the Prime Minister will understand the problems faced by people.”

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday criticised the manner in which the government handled demonetisation. Singh said, “Though the move was a step in the right direction in order to curb corruption, terror funding and black marketing, the way it had been handled had led to chaos, with the small farmers, traders, daily wagers and the poor the worst hit.”

West Bengal Chief Minister and the chief of Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "I want to know from the PM how my poorest brothers, sisters who've received their week's hard earned wage in one Rs 500 note will buy atta, chawal, tomorrow?" She told the press in Kolkata on Saturday that despite ideological differences she is ready to work with CPI (M), Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party ‘to save the country’.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) alleged, "Demonetisation is a big scam... People close to BJP were alerted in advance. There were heavy deposits in banks in July-September quarter. Who deposited these thousands of crores suddenly?"

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief of Samajwadi Party (SP) that rules Uttar Pradesh, said on Thursday at a press conference in Lucknow, “The sudden ban on high denomination notes has caused immense hardships to commoners, farmers and the poor, the demonetisation has been done by the NDA government with an eye on elections, and not keeping plight of people in mind.” He further said, “We are against black money. SP has fought against it. We do not want use of black money in elections.” He demanded a rollback of the ban ‘for a few days in view of the wedding season’.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav (SP) asked the government to ‘take all possible steps to minimise inconvenience to common people’, adding, "Central government must set up special banking counters in villages and district centres to assist the public, villagers and farmers."

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow, “Economic emergency like situations have been created by the government to hide their inefficiency. Poor people, middle class citizens, small businesses and farmers have been hit the most and not the people who have black money.”

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (M), on Wednesday alleged that the move will burden ordinary people and increase bureaucratic harassment of people. Sitaram Yechury, the CPI (M) General Secretary, described it as ‘poorly planned’. He tweeted, "To uncover the illicit money trail, we demand that the govt release the name of Top 100 defaulters of bank loans". "This demonetisation is attempted as a gimmick to divert attention from serious social and political failures of this govt in past 2.5 years."

Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala - ruled by the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) - criticized the demonetisation saying, “It has to be understood that those who are having black money were aware of this earlier and hence they have not been affected with this. It has only affected the common man the most. The Centre has implemented this without looking into the practical difficulties face by the people." He wanted time till December 31 for people to use the existing notes.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar (BJP) told reporters on Wednesday the demonetisation would not affect tourists who had arrived in the state. He said, “Like other people, the tourists can convert up to Rs 4,000, and usually they avail the facilities using credit cards. The inconvenience will be only for a day. From day after tomorrow, they can withdraw from ATMs”. He said he was personally happy with the ban which was to curb corruption, black money and terrorism. “There are some politicians who have stashed black money in their go downs. They are now having the sleepless nights,” he said, further adding that the clampdown on black money will also ensure that there is a ‘cleaner pre-election period’”.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu described it as bold step. However, he suggested that reintroduction of high denomination notes should be revisited and urged the government to look for alternatives.

Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav tweeted, "Positive move against counterfeit currency. Govt overplaying impact on black money. Opposition overplaying transitional problems."

It appears that demonetisation was initially welcomed by the people and political parties in India, with a few exceptions. But it is usually alleged that black money is used by politicians to influence voters during elections. State Assembly elections are going to be held in UP, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur early next year. So, experts see a political angle in the move. However, the negative reaction to the government’s order, claiming to curb black money and counterfeit banknotes, is not as much as it should be for such a drastic move.

As a result of demonetisation, most people ran short of cash, and there was no way to exchange the higher value notes. Neighbourhood shop keepers and other traders refused to accept the banned notes. Banks were closed immediately after the currency ban to replenish their old currency stocks with the newly printed series of 500 and 2000 rupee notes.

According to political analysts, its impact is expected to show up in the assembly election outcomes in the five states of Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur to be held early next year.

Introducing India on the eve of General Election 2009

The Republic of India has a parliamentary system of democracy, with the President of India as the titular head and the Prime Minister as the executive head.

India, the seventh largest country by geographical area and the second most populous country, is also the most populous democracy in the world. It has the world's twelfth largest economy, and it is the fourth largest in purchasing power and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

‘Unity in diversity’, is the pet phrase to explain the extreme situations in India chosen by many writers. Yes, India boasts of the more billionaires than most countries in the lists published by Forbes. On the sidelines extreme poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition coexist. The percentage of underfed children is higher than that in sub-Saharan Africa.

India has a pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society. India has an average literacy rate of 64.8%. The State of Kerala has the highest literacy rate (91%) and Bihar has the lowest (47%).

India has an estimated population of 1.17 billion, about 17% of the world population, the world's second most populous country. Approximately 70% of Indians live in rural areas. The rest of the people live in large cities such as Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Bengaluru (Bangalore), Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, and smaller cities and towns.

Hindi, the language spoken by the largest number of people, is the official language of India. English, which is used in business and administration, has the status of a 'subsidiary official language' and the medium of higher education.

Four major world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) originated in India. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE. The Indian population is constituted by Hindu (80.5%), Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians, Baháís and others. Tribal people constitute 8.1% of the population.

The Indian Parliament is bicameral, consisting of Rajya Sabha (House of States, the upper house) and Lok Sabha (House of People, the lower house).

Rajya Sabha has 245 members, each member serving six year terms, and one-third of the members completing their terms every two years. Most Rajya Sabha members are elected indirectly by the State legislatures and the legislatures of the Union Territories.

Lok Sabha has a strength of 545 members, 543 of whom are directly elected by people for five year terms. Two Lok Sabha members are nominated by the President of India to represent the Anglo-Indian community, if the President is of the opinion that they do not have adequate representation.

The executive branch of the government consists of the President, Vice President, and the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. The executive is subordinate to the legislature and the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers are directly responsible to Lok Sabha.

India consists of 28 States and seven Union Territories. All States, and the Union Territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments.

The 28 Indian States are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and West Bengal.

The 7 Union Territories are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, National Capital Territory of Delhi, and Puducherry.

Politics in the States have been dominated by political parties including the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI), and various regional parties.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, United Progressive Alliance (UPA), a coalition of various parties lead by INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with the support of leftist parties and others who oppose BJP.

For the 2009 general elections, about 714 million eligible voters shall exercise their franchise to elect their representatives to Lok Sabha from 828,804 polling centers on 16, 23 and 30 April, and on 7 and 13 May, 2009.

The first phase of the country's general elections on Thursday, despite disruption caused by Maoist rebels, was comparatively peaceful, as the Indian media and The Election Commission of India reported. The commission said that average turnout across all areas that voted in the first phase was between 58% and 62%.

Results are due on 16 May and a new parliament must be in place by 2 June 2009.

Indian Parliament Elections 2009

The first phase of the 2009 Lok Sabha (Lower House or the People’s House of the Indian Parliament) elections recorded 58% to 62% voter turnout, the Election Commission said on Thursday in New Delhi.

A poll panel official said that the voting percentage ranged from a low 46 percent in Bihar in North India to a high 86 in Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. The north-eastern Indian state of Nagaland, bordering Myanmar (former Burma), also witnessed a high turnout of 84%.

"By and large the elections were peaceful. Overall poll percentage was between 58 to 62 percent. Considering the complexities and difficulties, the elections were largely peaceful," Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan said in New Delhi after the first day's polls. He added there were incidents of violence blamed on Maoists in some states, like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand, that left 19 people dead, including nine civilians and 10 policemen. Many more people were reported injured.

Maoists had called for poll boycott in some states and warned that they would chop off the hands of those who went to vote. Balakrishnan said the five-phase elections were arranged keeping in mind the problems and challenges. He said 71 polling stations witnessed Maoist violence, while 86 saw "various types of disturbances". 76,000 polling stations faced Maoist threat, he said.

Among the states that witnessed high polling percentages were Lakshadweep (86%), Nagaland (84%), Manipur (68%), Andhra Pradesh (65%), Orissa (63%), Arunachal Pradesh (62%), Meghalaya (65%), Assam (62%), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (62%), Kerala (60%) and Mizoram (52%). According to Balakrishnan there could be slight change in the figure in Uttar Pradesh for which he put the tentative figure between 48% and 50%.

In Jammu & Kashmir, the turnout was 48%, while in Maharashtra it was 54%. Jammu & Kashmir elections were peaceful and the voting percentage jumped from 44.9% in 2004 to 48% in 2009.

Poll violence-hit Chhattisgarh had 51%, Jharkhand 50% and Bihar 46%. Kandhamal district in Orissa, which had witnessed large scale communal violence last year, recorded about 65% voting, the poll panel said.

Seven Indian States, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, were free of incidents of violence, Balakrishnan added.

The hoarding of Manmohan Singh in Kerala

Manmohanji is in town, originally uploaded by dannybirchall.

Announcing General Elections in India - tusker

Announcing the General Elections in India , the largest democracy in the world !!, originally uploaded by Vanajai.

The author of this photo ads: Elections to the 'Lok Sabha' the lower house of Indian Parliament has been announced! The 15th general elections are scheduled to be conducted between 16th April to 13th May 2009!

(Photo taken at Guruvayoor, waiting for a while to snap this trumpeting posture! Thank you tusker!!)

Guruvayur, also spelt as Guruvayoor, is a busy temple town in Thrissur district of Kerala, India, 25 km to the northwest of Thrissur city. It is a major pilgrimage town in India.

Guruvayur is famous for the many centuries old Guruvayoor temple, one of the most important temples in Kerala. The temple's deity is Lord Guruvayurappan (Lord Krishna in the form of a child).

A major tourist attraction is the elephant sanctuary, Punnathur kotta, near the temple where jumbos (tuskers) are trained for temple processions. The sanctuary has more than 60 elephants, given as an offering to God by the devotees of Lord Guruvayurappan.

Getting there - buses ply every few minutes from Thrissur city. Buses also operate from Ernakulam, North Paravur, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Pamba/ Sabarimala, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kodungallur and Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). Passenger trains operate from the station to Thrissur and Kochi, as well as an overnight express train to Trivandrum and further to Chennai. Cochin International Airport, the nearest airport, is some 80 km from Guruvayur. The other International Airport in Kerala is the Trivandrum Airport.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat speaks during the launch of the Third Front

IND12112A, originally uploaded by electionlivemint.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI (M) or CPM - General Secretary Prakash Karat speaks during the launch of the Third Front, ahead of Lok Sabha polls, in Dobbespet, about 60 KM away from Bangalore on Thursday.

If the third front becomes successful in putting up candidates in most of the constituencies, it can turn the fortunes of most of the candidates of the current ruling front lead by Congress and the opposition front lead by BJP, even if the third front cannot pullout a majority of its own. The result will be post-poll realignments and a new coalition of unlikely partners and possibly a Prime Minister the least expected by the political pundits in India.
PTI Photo by Shailendra Bhojak

Indian elections, the biggest democratic exercise on planet earth

A village woman holds voting slip as she waits in queue to cast her vote at Londa polling station on India-Pakistan International border at Heera Nagar district about 60 KM from the Northern Indian city of Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir on 13 December 2008., originally uploaded by jaipalsingh.

This April-May the world is going to witness the biggest democratic exercise on planet earth, with India going to the polls to elect the ruling party or coalition of parties to govern the country for the next five years. This election is going to be especially important because a major chunk of voters are of what we call Generation Next, say, in the age group of 18 to 35 years. And interestingly most of them are first-time voters.

Apart from the ruling coalition of the Congress lead by Sonia Gandhi and the opposition coalition lead by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) lead by their leader and the Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani, a third front, mainly of the leftist parties, CPM - Communist Party of India (Marxist) - and other communist or socialist parties and powerful regional parties like Telugu Desam are also in the fray.

The third front may not be able to pullout a win by itself, but they are definitely going to decide who is going to rule India for the next five years. These parties used to be in one or the other of the main coalitions in the past and the swing of their votes usually decided the next ruling coalition, just because in the last few elections no single party could win a majority of its own.

Most of the third front parties were in the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Now, if they fight against their current allies the left parties and their allies in the coalition are definitely going to drastically reduce the winning margins and the number of seats won by the Congress lead coalition. The BJP may not have to worry much because the leftists were always against them. BJP has so many other factors to tackle if its coalition has to win.

All the major players are campaigning this time in the high-tech path, rather tech-savvy with the aggressive use of the Internet and social networking sites. For instance, Sonia Gandhi’s YouTube video of the kisan rally saw thousands of hits on the first day. BJP’s PM candidate L K Advani’s website (www.lkadvani.in) features his blog and the Advani Campus Program. BJP wants to do some Obamagic by hiring Kevin Bertram, the man behind Obama’s poll campaign. Bertram was in India recently and BJP wants to do a cellphone campaign similar to the one that lead Obama to victory, informed sources report.

Any way, young India, the major chunk of the electorate, will have a final say. There is very much the possibility of a hung parliament and post-poll re-alliances and regroupings of political parties and even elected members of parliament switching sides.