Rahul Gandhi's Earthquake Claim Draws This BJP Response: 'Epicentre Of Scams'

New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is convinced that the speech he is waiting to share with parliament on the government's cancellation of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes will cause "an earthquake." Mr Gandhi also said, "I want to say that Modi, in the whole of India, has indulged in the biggest scam. I want to talk about that."

The ruling BJP's response: a giant hmmph. "Those who were 'Epicentre' of SCAMS for last 60years talk of 'Earthquake' today!!" tweeted party spokesperson Sambit Patra. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu observed, "May this quake happen when we are not present in parliament."

The riposte is pivoted on the opposition and government's fundamental disagreement on the demonetisation drive and its benefits. Both sides have so far failed to truce on how the reform should be debated in parliament. The lack of a compromise has left parliament stalled for virtually all of this winter session, jeopardising key legislation like the national Goods and Sales Tax or GST, seen as key for economic growth.

The opposition has today abandoned its earlier insistence on a debate followed by a vote, offering instead to accept a "no rules" discussion which would leave it up to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to decide whether a vote should footnote a free-wheeling discussion.

On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that within hours, high-denomination notes would be illegal. The reform, intended at purging the economy of black money, was praised for its ambition, but has shoved India into a cash crunch, with long lines at banks full of people desperate to turn in the old notes and collect new bills.

But the new currency is in thin supply, and banks are unable to provide people with the 24,000-per-week withdrawal that they are entitled to.

The money that was scrapped amounts to 86% of the cash used in India. So far, Rs 11.5 lakh crore or 170 billion dollars of the old notes have been deposited in bank accounts.

The opposition says that though it whole-heartedly backs the need to unearth black money and punish its owners, the demonetisation drive as executed by the government has hit the poor hardest because they have no access to formal banking.

To steer the economy away from its dependence on cash transactions, the government yesterday introduced a bloc of tax breaks for using cards for transactions, including the waiver of a 15% service fee on payments up to Rs 2,000.