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This Is Mamata Banerjee's Theory On How Modi Is Using Demonetisation To Manipulate State Polls

"This is yet another surgical strike."
File photo of Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of India's eastern state of West Bengal.
Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
File photo of Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of India's eastern state of West Bengal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using demonetisation as a tool to build up anger in states which do not have a BJP government, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged. In an interview with The Indian Express, she alleged that the Modi government was not distributing ₹500 notes equally in all states, as a ploy to manipulate future assembly elections there.

"The government isn't releasing ₹500 notes equally... But in BJP states, there is no such problem," she told Express. "In UP, they are not releasing ₹500 notes because the BJP wants anger to build against the Samajwadi Party."

The government isn't releasing ₹500 notes equally. We have asked the RBI to release the details of how many ₹500 notes have been sent to which state. They haven't done that yet. In West Bengal, the demand is far higher than other states. But here we have had almost no ₹500 notes. Most of the ATM machines haven't been recalibrated. But in BJP states, there is no such problem. In UP, they are not releasing ₹500 notes because the BJP wants anger to build against the Samajwadi Party.

Banerjee alleged that the central government was trying to curb protest against its demonetisation move by deploying the Indian Army in Bengal without informing the state government.

"No one is getting money in hand. What will people do? Now the government is trying to scare you, so that you can't go to the bank and take out money," she said. "This is yet another surgical strike."

She said that she was used to criticism, and would continue protesting against demonetisation.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.