To control damage, TD stops claiming credit for note ban

Vijayawada: The TD has stopped saying that demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes should be credited to Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu.

The TD chief instructed party leaders not to speak so as the public is suffering a lot and it would boomerang on the party. To control the damage already done, of late, Mr Naidu has been saying that to unearth black money held by one per cent of the people, 99 per cent have had to suffer.

Mr Naidu was the first to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise high value notes, claiming that it was he who had been insisting on such a move. This made many wonder if Modi had followed the CM’s advice.
Some went to the extent of speculating that the AP CM was aware of the move and that he and his associates were the first to cover their higher value notes, even before the PM’s announcement.

However, since the past few days the CM has stopped claiming credit for the demonetisation move, reportedly at the advice of some party leaders who cautioned that such claims may backfire as the public is experiencing much hardship.

An AP Cabinet minister said that people are supporting the decision of the PM to curb black money but are enraged by how it was implemented. It may be  noted that Mr Naidu, in his press conference on Friday spoke on the issues being faced by the public due to demonetisation.