Opposition to take note ban battle to streets today

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties, including Congress, are set to hit the streets on Monday against the Modi government's decision to scrap high value currency notes.
The JD(U), however, decided not be a part of the proposed all India protest (Jan Aakrosh Diwas) as Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has supported the demonetisation move.
Trinamool Congress, Left parties including CPM, AAP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have declared that they will be part of the protest.
Meanwhile, Congress took pains to emphasize that it had not given a call for a bandh on Monday. Accusing BJP of spreading misinformation, Congress said it had not called for a 'Bharat bandh' (shutdown) but only sought to observe 'Jan Aakrosh Diwas' by holding country-wide protests against the move.
The clarification came on a day when PM Narendra Modi took a swipe at his opponents by saying that instead of organizing bandhs, they should have joined the fight against black money.
Taking a dig at the Modi government, Congress arty spokesman Jairam Ramesh said the country was already shut from November 9, the day after Modi announced the demonetisation move .
The bandh call given by CPM units in party-ruled Tripura and Kerala and erstwhile stronghold West Bengal has failed to find support from other parties opposing demonetisation, with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, the leading light of the protest against invalidation of notes, vowing to oppose it.
The CPM, however, said it has left it to state units to chalk out the mode of protest in their respective jurisdictions. It said it will protest across the country against the "anarchy demonetisation has caused in the country and the consequent mounting agonies of the vast majority of our people, particularly the poor and the marginalized sections".
Even as she attacked CPM for unilaterally giving the bandh call and failed to persuade Nitish to join the anti-demonetization protest she has been spearheading, Mamata Banerjee did not relent on her attack on the Centre.
The Trinamool chief reacted sharply to Modi for his advice to people to shift to cashless transactions on Sunday and said 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast was a "misuse" of the government machinery as it has now become 'Modi ki Baat'. "Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth. We don't trust you or your mismatched wrong technology which you are advertising for. We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this (demonetisation)," Banerjee said in a statement.
After days of confusion arising from the utterances of its spokespersons and the presence of senior party leader Sharad Yadav in a protest march against demonetisation, JD(U) came out unambiguously in favour of demonetisation. "JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna by Mamata Banerjee in Patna," party general secretary K C Tyagi said.