Guilty will be investigated and punished: Rahul Gandhi renews attack on Modi government over demonetisation

Rahul Gandhi also targeted former chief economic advisor, suggesting that Subramanian should have resigned if he disagreed so much with demonetisation.

A day after former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian called demonetisation a “draconian, monetary shock”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday renewed his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Congress chief said that like Rafale, demonetisation was a “crime against India”, adding that “the guilty will be investigated and punished”.

He also targeted the former chief economic advisor, suggesting that Subramanian should have resigned if he disagreed so much with the decision of note ban by Prime Minister Modi. The Gandhi scion equated demonetisation with Rafale fighter jets deal, which he has alleged to be a scam.

According to Rahul Gandhi, Subramanian distanced himself with demonetisation just like former defence minister Manohar Parrikar did in case of Rafale deal.

“Demo like Rafale was a crime against India & a huge scam. Parrikar distanced himself from Rafale to save his skin. Mr Subramanian is doing the same with Demo. I wonder why he didn’t resign when he disagreed so much? Don’t worry India, the guilty will be investigated and punished,” tweeted the Congress chief.

The Congress had earlier on Thursday referred to the former chief economic advisor’s latest remark on demonetisation as “true feelings”.

“Former Chief Economic Advisor @arvindsubraman finally reveals his true feelings about the #DestructionByDemonetisation Obviously criticising a decision by the Supreme Leader while in govt. would've been completely outside the realm of possibility,” the party had tweeted.

Breaking his silence on the November 8, 2016 decision of Prime Minister Modi, the former chief economic advisor triggered a row as he said that demonetisation was a massive, draconian, monetary shock that accelerated economic slide.

In a chapter of his upcoming book 'Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy', Subranian has said, "Demonetisation was a massive, draconian, monetary shock: In one fell swoop, 86 percent of the currency in circulation was withdrawn. The real GDP growth was affected by the demonetisation. Growth had been slowing even before, but after demonetisation, the slide accelerated.

"In the six quarters before demonetisation, growth averaged 8 percent and in the seven quarters after, it averaged about 6.8 percent (with a four quarter window, the relevant numbers are 8.1 percent before and 6.2 percent after)."