Demonetisation a foolish decision, says Rahul

New Delhi, Dec 8: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation was not a "bold but a foolish decision".

Gandhi said the concept of Paytm -- an e-wallet service -- meant "Pay To Modi".

He was speaking to the media as opposition leaders staged a silent protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament premises after a month of the demonetisation decision that has caused widespread cash crunch.

"It is an experiment conjured by the Prime Minister on individual basis, and every expert who had an opinion about this pushed aside and the Prime Minister took this so-called bold decision," Gandhi said.

"But bold decisions can also be a foolish decision and this was a foolish decision, and it has devastated this country," he said.

"Layoffs are happening every day. I was told L&T has laid off almost a lakh people, farmers are dying, more than a hundred people have died and all this while the Prime Minister seems to be having fun.

"He is laughing, he is having a nice time while the people of the country are suffering."

Gandhi also attacked Modi for changing his narrative over demonetisation that the government claimed was aimed at curbing black money, fake currency, corruption and terror financing. 

"Now he (Modi) has moved to cashless economy. The whole concept of Paytm is Pay to Modi. That's the idea behind the cashless economy.

"The idea is that a few people should get maximum benefit from every single cash transaction. That is what is going on," he said.

"It has damaged the country tremendously and hurt a lot of people and specifically the poor people, farmers, fishermen, daily wage labourers and everyone has been hurt by this."

Gandhi also accused Modi of running away from a Parliament debate.