RJD to hold rally across Bihar against demonetisation

Patna: The RJD has planned to hold another rally against the Centre as well the state government against demonetisation. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the “focus will be to highlight the failures of demonetisation”.

The RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) has planned to hold a state-wide rally on November 8, a year from the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the ban on currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in 2016.

“It was a black day for the Indian economy and it was the middle-class people, labourers, farmers, and small traders who suffered. We will inform people how demonetisation has destroyed the economy in the country in the last one year,” the RJD chief said.

The RJD, the main Opposition party in Bihar, had earlier organised a rally on August 27 in Patna which saw the participation from rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, senior Congress leaders, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

RJD leaders are hoping to get a massive turnout during the rally in November. However, there is also a buzz in the political circle that Mr Lalu Yadav, who is facing a series of corruption charges, is trying to gain public support by organising such public meetings.

“Our November 8 rally will break all previous records,” he told reporters.

Earlier, Mr Lalu Yadav had also indicated that his party was preparing for early elections. In one of his statements last week, he said that the Centre was planning to hold the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections together.

The JD(U), on Monday, came out with a strong reaction against Mr Lalu Yadav for holding a rally against demonetisation on November 8.

The party’s spokesperson, Niraj Kumar, told this newspaper that “holding rallies won’t save him as people want to know how Lalu Yadav acquired so much of benami property.”