One year after note ban: BJP celebrates, opposition protests in Bengaluru

Members of the Congress party were seen sporting black arm bands and chanting slogans.

Written by:

A year after the central government decided to demonetise 86 percent of the currency in circulation, protests were organized across Karnataka against the move. Opposition parties termed it as a ‘black day’.

At Bengaluru’s Maurya Circle, members of the Congress party, some of whom were sporting black arm bands, were seen chanting "Down Down BJP" and "Narendra Modi hatao". Two Congress workers wore masks of Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley and posed for a photo op showcasing an empty suitcase.

“The sufferers have been the downtrodden and poor people, who had to stand in line when the move was announced one year ago. 200 people who died related to this have also been ignored by the government,” said Gomati Iyer, the Vice-President of the Labour Cell of Congress in Karnataka to TNM.

Congress workers sporting Modi and Jaitely masks pose for a photo at the protest held in Maurya Circle

Jayalakshmi and Papamma, two daily-wage workers from Basaveshwaranagar were part of the protests at Maurya Circle, even though they didn’t intend to be. The women were working at a construction site close to where the protests were being held. Congress party workers asked them to carry their baskets and pose for photographs at the protest to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation, but when TNM asked the duo if they knew what the protest was about, they shook their heads.

Jayalakshmi, a construction worker at the venue of the protest

Protests were also being held at other parts of the city. Workers belonging to the Janata Dal (United) and Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) were on separate protest marches before they converged at the State Bank of Mysore Circle, and voiced their anger by carrying flags and blaring anti-BJP slogans using loudspeakers. However, earlier in the day, workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), took out a silent protest at the same venue, condemning the lives lost as a result of the note ban.

Protests were also held in other parts of the state, including Mangaluru and Mysuru.

AAP volunteers form a human chain to condemn the lives lost due to demonetisation

Simultaneously, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated ‘anti-black money’ day at their office in Malleswaram.

Defending the move, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar said that “Action has been taken at all levels and people are supporting it by adopting digital methods on the ground”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted about the success of demonetisation, and other BJP leaders followed suit.

I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money. #AntiBlackMoneyDay