Sitaram Yechury points at ministers’ identical tweets on note ban, says Cabinet changes won’t matter
Comparing the expected reshuffle to shifting chairs on the decks of the Titanic, he said the Modi government will always remain a disaster.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said that the rumoured Union Cabinet reshuffle will not make a difference. He pointed out that Bharatiya Janata Party ministers have been reduced to tweeting out identical messages calling the government’s demonetisation drive a success – messages clearly handed out by the Centre.
The photo shows tweets by Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot, MP Om Birla, Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi and Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal. All their tweets said, “Due to demonetisation success, identifying dubious transactions using big data analytics made possible. Corrupt have nowhere to hide now!”
On November 8, 2016, the government had banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in, what it had said then, was an effort to eradicate black money. However, a report released by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday confirmed what had long been suspected: That demonetisation has been an economic failure, with very few benefits at a steep cost. And on Thursday, it emerged that the economy is also on shaky territory, with Gross Domestic Product growth down to 5.7% in the first quarter of 2017.
Yechury also compared the Cabinet reshuffle to shifting chairs on the decks of the Titanic. “The disaster that the Modi government is won’t change,” he said.
New ministers are expected to be appointed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for the Brics Summit in China on Sunday. At least seven ministers have resigned from their posts ahead of the Cabinet being overhauled.