Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has waded into the demonetisation debate by equating hardships faced by the soldiers guarding the borders to those standing in queues outside banks.
Interestingly, television channels have attributed him making the remark that “jawans defend the country’s borders against Pakistan inspite of having no personal enmity, so why can’t people bear the inconvenience for 50 days?“ However, when contacted by ET, the Chief Minister’s Office said the TV channels have `distorted his statements’.
The officials, however, did not clarify which of the statements were distorted.
Fadnavis, however, did say that those who were opposing the demonetisation of notes were working against the interests of the country.
Maharashtra CM made these remarks while campaigning for the coming municipal council polls in Ratnagiri on Sunday evening. Fadnavis said, “We are moving towards new economic independence. In this battle for economic independence, the person who stands with Modiji for the next 50 days will become a soldier in this battle, and those not standing with the PM will be against this country.“
Taking strong exception to these remarks, former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan said the CM is `not aware of the ground reality’. “He is not aware of the ground reality.For almost ten days now, in every district people are in queues trying to exchange or withdraw their own money from banks and ATMs. Close to 90 people have died of heart attacks while standing in these queues,“ said Chavan.
Chavan also slammed Fadnavis for equating standing in line to that of jawans guarding the borders against Pakistan.“How does he define patriotism? How can they compare a soldier’s sacrifice. It’s an insensitive comment and they don’t understand the economic implications of their move,“ said Chavan.
Online Source: The Economic Times.
