‘First act, second think’: Congress slams PM Modi over withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes

By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress targeted the prime minister on Friday over the RBI announcement on the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, saying the move was “typical of our self-styled vishwaguru” and his method of “first act, second think.”

A party MP said it was the beginning of a second demonetisation “disaster”, in an apparent reference to the demonetisation exercise of November 8, 2016, when the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes was withdrawn by the Narendra Modi government.

“Typical of our self-styled Vishwaguru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous ‘Tughlaqi firman’ of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, targeting the prime minister.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore tweeted, “Second Demo disaster starts…M = Madness.”

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, and existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30.

The Rs 2,000 denomination bank note was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes that were in circulation at that time.