West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday led her party leaders on a march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan from the Parliament House to mark her protest against the Centre’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Maharashtra ally, the Shiv Sena, which has 18 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha, also participated in the 1-km walk on the first day of the Winter Session.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also supported the march, but did not take part in the protest. Officials told NDTV that the Aam Aadmi Party chief’s absence was because the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena was part of the protest. Omar Abdullah of the National Conference joined the march.
Banerjee said, “You [Centre] take action against the corrupt, but why are you harassing 99 per cent commoners?” She said the issue was not about politics, but that “this is about the country”. “The Congress, CPM [Communist Party of India (Marxist) can go later, it’s their choice. No point in the doctor coming after death,” the chief minister said.
The Congress stayed away from the march, and said they wanted to discuss the issue first in Parliament during the ongoing session, before taking it up with President Pranab Mukherjee.
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