Demonetisation was an attack on India's informal sector: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the Central government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that demonetisation was an attack on India's informal sector which mainly included poor labourers, farmers and small shopkeepers.

His remark came in the second video of his new series on "how the Modi government has destroyed Indian economy" in which he said that there was a hidden motive to waive loans of corporates after taking out money from the unorganised sector.

"Demonetisation was an attack on poor labourers, farmers and small shopkeepers of the country. Demonetisation was an attack on the unorganised sector. On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision that currency note of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 will not remain legal tender. The whole of India stood outside banks," he said.

The Congress leader said that menace of black money circulation has not ended and poor suffered the most due to demonetisation.

"Who did get the benefit then? India's biggest billionaires got the benefit. Money was taken out of your pockets and the government used that money to forgive their loans," he said.

"There was a hidden motive. The motive was to take out money from the unorganised sector. Prime Minister himself said he wants cashless India. If there will be cashless India, then the unorganised sector will be finished. Farmers, labourers, small shopkeepers, small and medium businesses suffered losses. We should identify this attack. And the whole of the country has to fight against it," he said.

In the first video released on August 31, the former Congress chief alleged that the NDA government has been attacking the informal sector over the past 6 years and asserted that the aim of demonetisation, "wrong" Goods and Services Tax (GST) and lockdown is to destroy this sector.