BJP Senior Leader Yashwant Sinha took a jab at Prime Minister Modi over Demonetisation on Tuesday. The former finance minister stated even the 14th Century Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, implemented a note ban during his reign. Tughlaq is widely known as the failed ruler with unsuccessful enterprises.
At a function in Ahmedabad, the Minister said, “There were many Shahanshahs (kings) who brought their own currency. Some even kept previous currency in circulation while introducing the new one. But, there was a Shahanshah 700 years back, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who introduced his own (currency) while discontinuing the old currency.”
A group of activist under the name Lokshahi Bachao Abhiyan (Save Democracy Movement) invited Sinha to make a speech on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and last year’s Demonetisation.
Sinha explained the consequences of the note ban, “The direct cost of note ban, such as printing new notes, would come around Rs. 1,28,000 crore. If we consider that the economy has slowed down by 1.5% due to note ban, although I believe it is more than that, then it has made a dent of Rs. 2,25,000 crore more to the economy.”
He further added, “Now add that direct cost of Rs. 1,28,000 crore with this Rs. 2,25,000 crore. In total, our economy has suffered a loss of around Rs. 3.75 lakh crore directly.”
Sinha questioned why the GST and the Demonetisation were treated as media events. He also defined the GST as a good taxation system but implemented poorly by Prime Minister Modi.
