On the second anniversary of Demonetisation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for cheating the nation with the note-ban “scam”.

Describing it as a dark day, Banerjee tweeted: “The government cheated our nation with this big #Demonetisation scam. It ruined the economy and the lives of millions. People will punish those who did this.”

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#DarkDay The government cheated our nation with this big #DeMonetisation scam. It ruined the economy and the lives of millions. People will punish those who did this

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— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 8, 2018

On 8 November in 2016, PM Modi had announced a ban on the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in a sudden move that took everyone by surprise, restricting availability of money for the next two days and taking months to return to normal.

“#DarkDay today is the second anniversary of #DeMonetisation disaster. From the moment it was announced I said so. Renowned economists, common people and all experts now all agree,” Banerjee added.

#DarkDay Today is the second anniversary of #DeMonetisation disaster. From the moment it was announced I said so. Renowned economists, common people and all experts now all agree.

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 8, 2018

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the other hand on Thursday said that the demonetisation was a key step taken by the Government to formalise the economy.

Jaitley wrote a Facebook post in which he said the government had effectively targeted the menace of black money inside and outside India.

“The Government first targeted the black money outside India. Asset holders were asked to bring this money back on payment of penal tax. Those who failed to do so are being prosecuted under the Black Money Act. Details of all accounts and assets abroad which have reached the Government resulted in action against the violators,” he wrote.

Jaitley also commented on the widespread criticism of the government after RBI’s annual report showed that 99.3 per cent of the banned cash had returned.

“An ill-informed criticism of the Demonetisation is that almost the entire cash money got deposited in the banks. Confiscation of currency was not an objective of Demonetisation. Getting it into the formal economy and making the holders pay tax was the broader objective. The system required to be shaken in order to make India move from cash to digital transactions. This would obviously have an impact on higher tax revenue and a higher tax base, he wrote.

The Congress has said that it will hold a nationwide protest on Friday to mark the second anniversary of demonetisation.

Congress leaders and workers would be out on the streets to voice their protest against the “complete demolition” of the Indian economy unleashed by the “Tughlaqi farmaan” of demonetisation two years ago, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had said at a press conference.

(With agency inputs)