Sensing that difficulty in exchanging and withdrawing cash could turn into public anger against the Central government, the BJP on Monday asked its leaders across the country to extend assistance to the people and stepped up the offensive against the Opposition for criticising the move to ban currency notes of higher denomination. WATCH VIDEO: Arvind Kejriwal Attacks Janardhan Reddy Over His Daughter's Big Fat Wedding The BJP parliamentary party executive committee meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday discussed the arrangements to ease the implementation of the decision. Modi, according to sources, told party leaders, including BJP president Amit Shah, that the country is backing the government on this. “The PM said there is no plan to roll back the decision. In fact, he reminded party leaders that it is well within the mandate the BJP got in 2014,” a source said. Both Modi and Shah urged senior BJP leaders to remind state leaders and party cadres to get the message to the people that BJP had promised “Swachh Bharat, a clean India, in all terms — tann, mann, dhan (body, mind and wealth)”. Modi said the party should not come under Opposition’s pressure. “The Opposition may be desperate to sabotage the move but the people are with us, and the country has welcomed it,” the PM is said to have told party MPs. BJP MPs, the source said, will be given instructions on how to counter Opposition parties on three recent issues that have hit the headlines: the cash crisis, One Rank One Pension (OROP) for soldiers, and surgical strike by the Army across the LoC in Kashmir. WATCH VIDEO: PM Modi Reveals How He Planned Demonetisation Gradually In 10 Months Shah, who has urged people to “volunteer and help those in need of guidance”, took stock of the situation and the efforts of party units across the country in assisting people to overcome the “temporary crisis”. As opposition parties joined forces in attacking the government, the BJP intensified its counter-attack. Slamming TMC leader and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for her criticism of demonetisation, BJP secretary Sidharth Nath Singh caller her “cheerleader of all anti-social elements”. Slamming her call to the Left to put up a united fight, Singh said, “Mamata is a mirror image of the Left. The Left felicitated and sheltered chit fund companies like Rose-Valley, Saradha.. The Left produced them, Mamata felicitated them.” Taking on BSP chief Mayawati, BJP national secretary Srikant Sharma said: “Mayawati’s desperation shows she can clearly see her defeat in the UP Assembly polls, as all her works were funded by black money.now all this funding is of no use.” NDA allies back ‘historic’ move The BJP seems to have brought all its allies on board on the demonetisation issue. While Shiromani Akali Dal, whose leader Sukhbir Badal had earlier raised some doubts on the implementation part, supported the government at an NDA meeting held here on Monday, the Shiv Sena, which had criticised the move in no uncertain terms, backed PM Modi. Sena’s Anandrao Adsul, who attended the meet, called the currency move “historic”, sources said. In an editorial Monday morning, Sena mouthpiece Saamana had called the decision “demonic and unsystematic” that has led to “financial anarchy”. WATCH VIDEO: Demonetisation: Arvind Kejriwal, Kapil Sibal, Akhilesh Yadav Slam Modi Govt Ghazipur rally: Modi hits out at Cong over Nehru’s legacy Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones for six infrastructure projects for eastern UP on the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary Monday, saying that no one had paid such a tribute to the country’s first PM. At a rally in Ghazipur, Modi hit out at the Congress and the Gandhi family, saying “Nehru’s party and his family never acted on his unfinished work”. “You (Nehru) are no more, leaders from your party and your family are levelling false allegations, still on your birthday I’m starting work to complete your unfulfilled desire for the development of people,” he said.
