Country made vulnerable by ill-planned move: Rajya Sabha MP

New Delhi, Nov 16: Criticising the Narendra Modi government over the demonetisation issue, Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday said the resultant cash shortage had rendered common people vulnerable to fake currency rackets.

"At a time when real cash is in short supply, common people are most vulnerable to take fake Rs 2,000 notes for real," Yadav told the Rajya Sabha.

Rejecting the government's argument that the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will end the menace of fake currency in India, he said: "Do you think our enemy countries will wait for two months before they forge new currency notes? They may have already started it."

In October, Ram Gopal, who was General Secretary of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, was expelled from the party by its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in the wake of charges of corruption and manipulation.

Yadav also raised the issue of "selective leak" about the new currency, referring to a tweet by Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sanjeev Kamboj wherein the latter shared a picture of the new Rs 2,000 note on November 6 -- two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation.

"Where did he get the new note even before it was introduced? This is a serious matter which must be probed," Yadav said.

Yadav said the government and the ruling BJP were blind to the plight of daily wage earners who are on the verge of starvation as they have no money to buy food.

"If your (BJP) workers go about seeking votes now, women will beat them with 'belan' (rolling pins) because women are the worst sufferers," the MP said.