KCR defends Narendra Modi on note ban, asks all to wait till December 31

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday batted for demonetisation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Assembly, saying the “abnormal decision” was taken in the interest of the nation and would work wonders in the coming days. He said demonetisation was a part of the “scheme of things” planned by Mr Modi to cleanse the system and build a “corruption-free India.

During a debate on demonetisation, Mr Rao said the PM had said that there would be problems and sought 50 days to resolve all issues on the first day itself. “Every-one should wait till the deadline ends and support Mr Modi in his efforts to curb black money, fake currency and terrorism,” he said.

The CM intervened several times in the debate whenever Opposition parties criticised the NDA government at the Centre or Mr Modi, and cautioned them against making sweeping remarks against demonetisation as it did not fall under the state’s purview.

He said the impact of demonetisation on the state’s revenues was not as bad as anticipated as the state had the advantage of having significant urban population, especially seven lakh IT employees, who do cashless transactions. He said the government would encourage cashless transactions. He urged Mr Modi not to stop with demonetisation but go for a total clean-up of all fields including political corruption. He sought government funding for political parties.

When Leader of the Opposition K. Jana Reddy said demonetisation was “ill-planned and irresponsible” and MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi took potshots at Mr Modi, the Chief Minister intervened and asked all members to desist from criticising the Prime Minister or the Centre and confine themselves to giving suggestions on how to mitigate the problems caused by the demonetisation.

The mikes of Mr Reddy and Mr Owaisi were switched off eight times; at one stage the MIM leader got so angry that he stormed into the podium along with MIM members and argued with the Speaker.

The CM said the state economy normally had a cash circulation of Rs 70,000 crore. “We got only Rs 19,000 crore in new currency and we have no option but to go for cashless transactions. We will take up a mass awareness programme after December 30 to enlighten people on the need for cashless transactions,” Mr Rao added.