Amid allegations that the ruling party at Centre – Bharatiya Janata Party – was aware of the demonetisation ahead of its announcement on November 8, PM Modi has sought to do some damage control.
As per this report, Modi has asked all his BJP MPs and MLAs to submit the details of their bank account transactions between November 8 and December 31.
The partymen have been asked to submit the details to party president Amit Shah.
As per this report, the BJP’s West Bengal unit deposited crores in banks merely six to seven hours before the announcement at 8 pm on November 8, sparking speculations that the party units probably knew about it already. If true, it’s a matter of shame for the BJP that has been claiming utmost secrecy, saying that even the finance minister Arun Jaitley wasn’t in the know.
Now, if it’s a matter of hours, party leaders submitting details starting from November 8 might make sense.
However, there is speculation that the move was leaked to party leaders much earlier, giving them ample time to invest crores of rupees in land and property in many states ahead of note ban. These allegations have come from opposition parties like AAP, which has also been calling the move a “Rs 8 lakh crore scam”, arguing that its sole purpose is to convert its own black money into white.
If PM Modi seeks to counter this above allegation, bank transactions details starting from November 8 are clearly not enough and seems like a PR exercise to improve image. Not quite different from the government’s survey on demonetisation perhaps.
And, instead of shutting the opposition up, the move seems to have given them more ammunition: