Assembly polls referendum on demonetisation: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress today said the Assembly elections in five states is a virtual referendum on the demonetisation decision which has led to "pain and anger" among a vast number of ordinary people who had to suffer for long.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters he was confident the "pain and anger" among people would reflect in the voting patterns in the five states, including Uttar Pradesh.

Azad, who is also Congress General Secretary, was asked whether the Congress was seeing the polls as a referendum on the issue of demonetisation.

The Congress leader was briefing media on the gherao of RBI offices carried out by party workers in various parts of the country in which it demanded that the RBI Governor must resign taking responsibility for the 'demonetisation mess' as also permitting the Modi government to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the central bank and rendering it as "a mouthpiece " of the government.

"RBI's autonomy and statutory powers have been subjugated and compromised. Responsibility lies at the doorsteps of RBI Governor for this erosion of credibility," he said at the outset.

He also demanded the RBI and the Modi government issue a 'white paper' and answer all questions and demands raised by the Congress. He also wanted grant of 'right of withdrawal of own money' by lifting all restrictions.

"An autocratic Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bloating over the arrogance of numbers and a captive RBI, has plunged the country into a state of 'economic anarchy', wiping out people's earnings and creating a colossal sense of fear and insecurity", the party said in a memorandum submitted to the RBI offices.

"Have RBI and Modi Government calculated the cost of replacing old notes with new notes? Is it Rs 25,000-30,000 crore, as has been stated by many economists? Who is going to bear this cost?," he asked.