'Rs 2,000 note withdrawal to curb cash play in Lok Sabha polls'

Chennai, May 20

With cash for votes gaining ground and to prevent money power having a play against the ruling BJP in the 2024 general elections, the Rs 2,000 denomination notes are being withdrawn -- this is a view that is being shared on social media.

"It is a move to curtail the opposition's money power. Further, the monitoring radar will be activated on those who are depositing huge numbers of Rs 2,000 denomination notes," former AIADMK Lok Sabha MP K.C. Palanisamy told IANS.

According to him, there are also possibilities of the Lok Sabha elections being held in October/November this year.

Another person in a social media group quipped: "Another surgical strike."

"This may be an effort to curb black money distribution for votes during the general elections next year," Prassana, a common man, told IANS.

"As witnessed during demonetisation, we expect the deposit accretion of banks to improve marginally in the near term. This will ease the pressure on deposit rate hikes and could also result in moderation in short-term interest rates," Karthik Srinivasan, Senior Vice President, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, said.

Vimal Nadar, Head of Research at Colliers India, said: "The withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes is an expected and timely move towards prudent currency management within the realm of maintaining banking and financial discipline. Such measures further reduce/eliminate the probable cash component in high-value real estate transactions. In the last few years, RERA and demonetisation have brought in significant levels of transparency in real estate, mainly contributing to fair market price determination."