The opposition parties on Thursday boycotted the all-party meet called by union home minister Rajnath Singh over the demonetisation issue.
The meeting is underway at Rajnath’s chamber in Parliament, wherein finance minister Arun Jaitley, information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar are present.
Meanwhile, the opposition leaders held a separate meeting in Parliament to discuss strategy for cornering the Modi government over the demonetisation move. In the meeting, it was decided that the opposition will not hold any talks with the government till November 28. Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati called for dissolution of Lok Sabha and call for fresh elections.
On Wednesday, the opposition parties called for a nationwide shutdown against the Modi government over the demonetisation issue. A protest rally was held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, which was led by Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The rally was also attended by Jaya Bachchan from the Samajwadi Party and Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United).
“The Modi government’s demonetisation move reminds of feudal landlord system wherein the poor are deprived of the resources,” Mamata said in the rally.
Meanwhile, it is expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Rajya Sabha and is likely to participate in the discussions related to demonetisation. Yesterday, he was present in the Lok Sabha but did not speak on the issue despite repeated demands by the opposition parties like Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party.
