Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram would have resigned from office, had demonetisation been implemented during his tenure, he said on Sunday.
Had I been the Finance Minister, and the Prime Minister had proposed the step of demonetisation, I’d have told him not to do it. If he had still gone ahead with it, I would have resigned.P Chidambaram, Congress MP
Speaking at a panel discussion on "Debating Modi Sarkar: The Role of the Opposition" at the Times LitFest 2016, Chidambaram also claimed to be sure that the "aftermath of the huge step" was not described to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Livelihood of 48 Percent Population is Affected”
“Had he known ATMs were not recalibrated, and that it would take seven months to print the currency, he would not have gone ahead with the move,” Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram raised the "sufferings" of the people, who have been hit hard by the unprecedented cash crunch.
If you take away the daily income of labourers, farmers, fruit sellers, vendors, small scale businessmen etc, the livelihood of 48 percent of the population (45 crore approximately) is affected.
"People are suffering. Some decisions maybe politically and economically correct, but if they are not good ethically, government should apologise to its people," he added.
Secrecy Was Important
According to him, Prime Minister Modi's idea of maintaining secrecy was important but experts should have been consulted before introducing the move.
Secrecy was necessary. But advices from at least two people should have been considered. The government should have consulted former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and its own former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.
Commenting on the collective call by the opposition parties for a nationwide Bharat Bandh on 28 November, Chidambaram said, "It is already a Bharat Bandh. We have been observing the Bandh for past 20 days."
"How can there be more disruption than what has been happening in this nation for more than a week? I don't support bandhs," he said during the discussion hosted by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)