PM Modi was slammed by Shiv Sena Chief, Uddhav Thackeray for his decisions of demonetization and implementation of GST. He accused Modi of being on a “centralisation spree”.
Thackeray, whose party is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said reforms are a must, “but one should pause” to review their impact. He asked whether to centralise or decentralise. Rajiv Gandhi had introduced autonomy through the Panchayati Raj when he was the prime minister and Narendra Modi has taken away the autonomy. He also raised a question on India being a democratic country as everything happens according to Prime Minister’s will. He wanted to know that is there any value for the views and will of the citizens. He said that due to demonetization 15 lakh people lost their jobs and approximately 60 lakh families suffered. It is government’s responsibility to look after all those people who suffered due to demonetization. Referring to the Centre’s initiatives aimed at job creation such as ‘Start-up India’ and ‘Make-in-India’, Thackeray wondered how did one reconcile them with demonetization and its effects. He has given a warning to BJP-led Maharastra government to waive off the farmers’ loner otherwise Shiv Sena would soon expose them. He has demanded to see the names of those who will be benefitted from the government’s loan waiver scheme.
He claimed that no bank had so far received clear instructions about how to grant the waiver. He also accused the government of not fulfilling its promise of giving Rs 10000 to every farmer till the loan waiver scheme was worked for buying seeds and fertilisers but only 2500 farmer received the payment.