Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday compared demonetisation to a terror attack, in what appeared to be his sharpest criticism yet of the Narendra Modi government over the 2016 note ban. He said those responsible for the “vicious” assault had not been brought to justice.

Rahul Gandhi’s remarks

The comments marked three years since Prime Minister Modi announced on November 8, 2016, that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would stop being legal tender from midnight. On Twitter, Gandhi said the move had devastated the economy, cost lives, destroyed lakhs of small businesses and left millions of people without jobs.

Other Congress leaders

Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said every claim made for the note ban had been turned on its head, calling it a “disaster” that had almost destroyed the economy. She asked whether anyone wished to take responsibility.

Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala called Modi “today’s Tughlaq”, saying Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq had made the country’s currency worthless in 1330 and the same had been done on November 8, 2016. He said three years on, the economy had collapsed and jobs had been lost, while neither terrorism nor the fake currency trade had stopped.

Background

Addressing the nation on television at 8 pm that day, Modi said the decision was aimed at corruption, black money hoarding and terror financing. Nearly 86 per cent of the currency in circulation was affected. Several economic observers have argued that the move hurt the unorganised sector most, causing job losses and falling consumption, especially in rural areas, and the economic slowdown has partly been attributed to it.

See also: Indian National Congress.

Originally published on 8 November 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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