Opposition’s strike call a flop show: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP said the bandh called by the opposition against demonetisation flopped, thanks to the people’s belief in a “noble government initiative”, which was pro-poor and against corruption.
“People have rejected those who support black money and corruption and appreciated the efforts of PM Narendra Modi against black money and corruption. The leaders behind the calls for ‘Bharat bandh’ and Jan Aakrosh Diwas’ are tainted and have been rejected by people,” BJP spokesperson Shrikant Sharma said.
He alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi are involved in the National Herald case and were out on bail, whereas Saradha scam had tainted West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. “Samajwadi Party is running its government in Uttar Pradesh with the support of land and mining mafias, while BSP chief Mayawati is accused of the National Rural Health Mission scam,” Sharma alleged. He said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s party MLAs were accused of various crimes.
“Any call given by such leaders was bound to flop. BJP expresses its thanks to people for rejecting these parties,” Sharma said. BJP has chalked out a strategy to educate people about the benefits of scrapping high value currency, in line with Modi’s mantra of moving towards increased cashless transactions. It also plans to tout the move as “pro-poor and a war against corruption” in the ongoing ‘Parivartan Yatra’ launched from the four corners of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
Party president Amit Shah and finance minister Arun Jaitely have been briefing party leaders, including Union ministers and office bearers, to reach out to the people and make them aware about cashless options of transactions. During a recent Cabinet meeting, Jaitley gave a detailed presentation on demonetisation and he urged Union ministers to fan out across the country with the message that demonetisation would cleanse the system.
Party president Amit Shah has been consistently talking about demonetisation at public platform and party events. “Parties often come up with populist policies but rarely take measures to shape up a better society,” Shah said while addressing office bearers here on Monday.
The BJP spokesperson agreed that their political campaign in UP was based on demonetisation thanks to the public support the move has received in the most populous state. “Party leaders have several points to share with the common man including relief granted to farmers and permission to use scrapped currency for various household things,” Sharma said.
The Parivartan Yatra in UP has traversed more than 7,000 km, covering 36 districts in the past 20 days. Party leaders claim to have interacted with more than 32 lakh people during the yatra.