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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu who had initially supported the Centre’s demonetisation move now seems to have changed his tone.
Addressing a workshop of Telugu Desam Party’s MPs, MLCs, MLAs and other leaders in Vijayawada on Tuesday, Naidu was quoted by the Business Standard as saying: “Demonetisation was not our
wish, but it happened. More than 40 days after demonetisation, there are still a lot of problems. Yet there appears to be no solution.”
It was in October this year that Chandrababu had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for an immediate ban of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations.
And when Modi announced the Centre’s demonetisation move on November 8, Chandrababu had wholeheartedly thanked him for accepting his request to eliminate black money from the Indian economy.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had even gone to the extent of posting numerous complimentary messages on Facebook status lauding Modi for the courage shown to take on black marketeers.
But with the acute currency crunch faced by the masses showing no signs of abating in the near future, Chandrababu has gradually become critical of the same, especially with regard to the
introduction of new Rs. 2000 currency notes.
Naidu who chaired a 13-member central committee to look into post-demonetisation issues, observed that the problem still remained a sensitive and complicated one.
"I spend two hours everyday, in fact, more than that. I am spending the entire day to find a solution to the problems caused by demonetisation. I break my head daily, but am unable to find a
solution to this crisis," he said.
In his opinion, the banks appear unprepared for the seeming transition to a totally digital-based economy.
"We could resolve the August crisis (an internal party coup dating back to 1984) in 30 days but this (demonetisation) continues to persist," he added.