Black money hoarders have reasons to worry over move to phase out Rs 2,000 notes: Fadnavis

The move had evoked strong reactions from Opposition parties in Maharashtra with the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) questioning the logic behind the decision.

“The decision has come from the RBI. It will come into force after a period of three months. Adequate measures have been taken to facilitate banks to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes and replace it with lower denomination,” he explained.

The decision will check the fake currency being pushed into circulation by “anti-nationals from across borders”, Fadnavis added.

Earlier, Opposition leader Ajit Pawar had questioned why the decision came from the RBI and was not announced by the Centre. “There are issues which will arise when the decision will come into implementation. In the past, when the Centre announced demonetisation, people believed and hoped it would bring black money out…it would help in transparency and accountability. Many felt corruption would stop. But later, people were disillusioned. Instead of achieving the objectives, ordinary people were subjected to a lot of hardship,” he had said.