Congress leaders stashed Rs 12 lakh crore, PM Narendra Modi turned it into scrap: Amit Shah

Ahmedabad: Launching a fierce attack on the Congress, especially on Rahul Gandhi, amid the demonetisation debate, BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that the leaders of that party had accumulated Rs. 12 lakh crore during the UPA rule through "corrupt" means, which he said was turned into "paper scrap" overnight by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Setting the tone for the Winter Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, he claimed that Congress was unhappy with the withdrawal of the high-value currency notes as its "fortune" was reduced to "paper scrap" by PM Modi's move.

Shah also mocked the Congress vice-president for "going to a bank in a Rs. 4 crore car to exchange Rs. 4,000".

"During their 10-year rule, the Sonia-Manmohan government did one scam every month, be it 2G, CWG, coal allocation, Adarsh Society, aircraft purchase and many other. With such large-scale corruption, Congress leaders accumulated Rs. 12 lakh crore which is equal to the size of three Union budgets," the BJP chief said.

"They parked this huge amount of money in their houses, godowns and at their friends' places thinking that it was safe. But, (PM) Modi turned it into paper scrap by announcing demonetisation on November 8. This has taken away all the charm from the faces of the Congressmen," he said.

Shah was addressing party workers and citizens at Bharuch in Gujarat where he inaugurated the Bharuch District Cooperative Bank building.

The BJP president was also unsparing in his attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav, claiming that everyone was in "deep trouble" due to the demonetisation move, but no one was ready to reveal the reason behind their discontent.

Shah's comments came on a day when the Congress-led opposition closed ranks to pin down the government on the demonetisation issue in Parliament.

"The situation is like a flood which sweeps away everything. Now, Congress leaders, Kejriwal, Mamata and Mulayam Singh have joined hands to save themselves from this flood. I am sure that those present here are not worried at all because we do not have black money. Only those who have black money are worried," he said.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi who had criticised the Prime Minister for demonetisation, Shah said, "Rahul baba went to withdraw Rs. 4,000 in a Rs. 4 crore car. Do you think these people ever need Rs. 4,000 cash? Rahul baba talks about the poor. I want to tell him that if he and his party were so concerned, then the Congress leaders should not have stashed away the Rs. 12 lakh crore."

Acknowledging that the cash crunch was causing hardships to the common man, the BJP chief said they will "benefit in the long run".