Thousands of Delhi Congress workers, under the leadership of DPCC president Shri Ajay Maken, today held a “Palayan Roko evam Jawab Do” march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament House

Thousands of Delhi Congress workers, under the leadership of DPCC president Shri Ajay Maken, today held a “Palayan Roko evam Jawab Do” march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament House to protest against the faulty implementation of demonetization, which has rendered lakhs of migrant labour unemployed, and to stop their reverse-migration, and also seeking a reply from Shri Modi on the question raised by Shri Rahul Gandhi, asking Modi to come clean on the Rs 65 crore he received from the Aditya Birla Group and the Sahara Group. The people want to know how he received the Rs 65 crore—through cheques, credit cards or cash.

· Delhi Congress workers will hold “Bhanda Fod” campaign on December 27 and 28, 2016 at block-level, metro stations, over-bridges and flyovers, carrying playcards and banners, to expose before the people the big corruption of Shri Narendra Modi, who received Rs 65 crore from the Aditya Birla and Sahara Groups.

· When Shri Narendra Modi speaks about cashless economy, he should also reply to the question raised by Congress vice-president Shri Rahul Gandhi about Modi receiving Rs 65 crore from the Aditya Birla and Sahara Groups.

NEW DELHI, Dec. 24—The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, under the leadership of its president Shri Ajay Maken, today held a “Palayan Roko evam Jawab Do” march, under the aegis of the Delhi Poorvanchal Congress, Delhi Parvatiya Congress and the Delhi South Indian Congress, who came in their traditional dress, from Jantar Mantar to Parliament House, to protest against the faulty implementation of demonetization, which has rendered lakhs of migrant labour jobless, forcing them to leave Delhi for their villages, and also demanding a reply from Shri Narendra Modi about him receiving Rs 65 crore from the Aditya Birla Group and the Sahara Group. The whole country is waiting for Shri Modi’s reply.

Shri Maken said due to the faulty implementation of demonetization, and in the name of nationalism, the whole country was lined up before banks and ATMs. This decision has set back the country by 20 years.

Shri Maken said that the Delhi Congress will organize a “Bhanda Fod” campaign on December 27 and 28 at block levels, metro stations, over-bridges and flyovers, to expose the Rs 65-crore corruption by Shri Narendra Modi, which has been raised by Congress vice-president Shri Rahul Gandhi three days back.

Shri Maken said on the one hand, Shri Modi has been talking about a cashless economy, and he should reply to the question raised by Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji about Shri Modi receiving Rs 65 crore from the Aditya Birla Group and the Sahara Group. Shri Maken said that Shri Modi should explain how he received the Rs 65 crore, either through cheques, credit cards or by cash, as the whole country is waiting for his reply.

Besides Shri Ajay Maken, prominent others who addressed the protesters were ex-MPs Shri Mahabal Mishra and Shri Ramesh Kumar, Chief Spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, Dr. Narender Nath, Hari Shankar Gupta, MCD Opposition leaders Mukesh Goel, Farhad Suri and Varyam Kaur, Shri Chattar Singh, Delhi Poorvanchal Congress chairman Shri Shivji Singh, Delhi Parvatiya Congress chairman Shri Brijmohan Upreti and Delhi South Indian Congress chairman Shri R. Mani Naidu. Thousands of Congress workers, shouting slogans and carrying banners and playcards, participated in the protest march. The protesters shouted slogans such as “Sahara-Birla ki diary se spasht hai, Narendra Modi bhrasht hai”, “Note bandi ne di lachari, gai naukri bane bhikhari” and “Note bandi layi bhukhmari ka daur, garib mazdoor chale gaon ki or”, etc.

Addressing the protesters, Shri Ajay Maken said that at the time of implementation of demonetization, Shri Narendra Modi had boasted that corruption will be wiped out and terrorism will be put to an end. But, none of these things have been achieved. On the other hand, only poor people are facing difficulties due to the faulty implementation of demonetization. Shri Maken said that it was the Delhi Congress which had first highlighted the plight of the workforce in the unorganized/informal sector due to the faulty implementation of demonetization.

Shri Maken said that the 48.63 lakh unorganized/informal workforce in Delhi consists of first-generation migrant labour. He said after the faulty implementation of demonetization, reverse migration has begun in Delhi, and lakhs of labour have already returned to their homes, and 10 to 15,000 labourers are returning home every day, which is stalling development works in the Capital. He said labour in the unorganized/informal sector is the real lifeline of Delhi, who sustains and keeps the city going. They are the providers of affordable services and labour.

Shri Maken said that major projects in Delhi have come to a standstill as labourers are not getting their daily wages due to the cash crunch. He said that the labourers who used to gather at different chowks for daily works are now returning home empty-handed as they sit at the chowks idle the whole day without any work. The daily earning of rickshaw pullers have also come down sharply. Shri Maken said that if immediate steps are not taken to stop reverse-migration of the informal work force, it will take a long time for Delhi to come back to its normal routine.

Addressing the demonstrators, ex-MP Shri Mahabal Mishra said whenever the BJP came to power, it put hurdles on Poorvanchalis living in Delhi from earning their livelihood. He said during the BJP rule, a sealing drive was carried out in Delhi, and then demolition drives were carried out in unauthorized colonies and sealing of shops. Now, due to the faulty implementation of demonetization, the backs of the migrant workforce living in Delhi have been broken.