Demonetisation: Congress likens Narendra Modi to Roman Emperor Nero

NEW DELHI: In the wake of demonetisation that has put the nation through "great hardships", Congress today likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Roman Emperor Nero who fiddled while Rome burned.

"There is a saying, Nero fiddled while Rome burned. As the story goes, in the time of a crisis, the Roman Emperor was busy playing the violin. He was both whimsical and ineffectual when Rome needed him the most.

"It has been a month since that fateful day when Modi decided that 86 per cent of the cash in the economy was illegal. Since then, the entire nation has been put through great hardships, whose cost in terms of human lives has been significant", the main opposition party said.

In a commentary on the party website on a day marking one month to the demonetisation announcement, the AICC noted that people were told that the Government was prepared to face the situation.

"We were told that we would have to bear with the Government for only a few days. But, as the extent of the pain across the nation became apparent, Modi began to change the rules around demonetisation. It has been a month and there is still not enough money in the banks. Rules have been changed more than 120 times", it said.

The party suggested that in this backdrop Rahul Gandhi said, "This is not a bold decision, it is a foolish decision which has been taken without any due consideration. It has devastated the poor, farmers and daily wage workers. We want to have a discussion (in Parliament). We want a vote (in Parliament). The government doesn't."

Highlighting how the Prime Minister has been constantly changing the goal posts, the Congress Vice President said, "PM started off by saying, I am against black money. After black money he went to terrorists. Then he moved to counterfeit money and then to cashless economy. So he is running and we will catch him inside the House. He won't be able to run inside the house."