Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday called demonetisation the biggest scam in the history of independent India, adding it would be proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “robbed the poor of their hard-earned money and given it away to a few rich”. He also attacked the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh over corruption and unemployment.

Addressing a campaign rally in MP’s Deori for the November 28 state Assembly elections, Gandhi said PM Modi made hundreds of thousands of labourers, women and small businessmen stand in serpentine queues outside banks during the note ban exercise of 2016.

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“Did you see any black money hoarders like Nirav Modi or Mehul Choksi queuing up?” Gandhi asked.

“Through the note ban, Modi snatched the hard earned money of the poor and put them in his cronies’ pockets,” he said.

Gandhi also raked up the issue of Rafale deal while addressing the people.

“If Modi says he is a chowkidar, people will respond that chowkidar chor hai,” said that Congress leader adding that the prime minister “cancelled the Rafale deal of 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault Aviation and HAL at a price of Rs 526 crore per plane” without informing the Indian Air Force and the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

“The then French president Francois Hollande has said the Indian government had asked for Anil Ambani to be taken on board for the deal,” the Congress chief said.

“Modi gave Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani in this deal. This is the chowkidari he has done,” Gandhi said.

Attacking the MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Gandhi said, “Entire Madhya Pradesh knows the role of Shivraj Chouhan and his family in the Vyapam scam,” and added that over 100,000 government posts in the state were lying vacant while schools and hospitals were privatized and making them inaccessible to the poor.

(With agency inputs)