Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move, the Shiv Sena said the decision was Indian economy's Hiroshima and Nagasaki moment.
In the editorial of the party's mouthpiece Saamana, Sena said the trade body ASSOCHAM announced that over 40 lakh people have lost their jobs and many more will be unemployed in the days to come due to note ban. This would mean that the prime minister bombed the economy with demonetisation, the party added.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has been critical of the decision from the beginning. With 21 Zilla Parishads in the states going to polls in February, the Sena's criticism is only getting sharper. “Demonetisation did not bring out black money but it certainly broke the back of the co-operative sector in rural Maharashtra. Rural economy is completely dependent on the co-operative sector. The government damaged and hurt the credibility of the co-operative sector by banning co-operative banks from accepting or exchanging money,” the editorial read.
“Modi is not in a mood to listen to anybody. He didn't listen to the RBI. All ministers have become dumb and deaf parrots,” it further said. Noting that 50 per cent small scale industries have been affected by the decision, the article expressed fear for the lives of ordinary citizens.
The editorial is bound to create rift between the alliance partners ahead of the elections in 10 municipal corporations and 21 Zilla Parishads.
The Congress, however, questioned Sena's outburst saying if the party was so critical of the move, it should have snapped ties with the BJP government in the state.
