But Black Money Has Also Helped India, Says Akhilesh Yadav

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to bear with the inconvenience caused by his sudden ban on Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes - a move to combat black money and corruption - Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has professed a slightly different view of the world.

"I am very clear on this... black money should not be generated. Economic experts say the magnitude of the global economic crisis at times is not felt in India because of the strong (parallel) economy of black money," he said in Lucknow today, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

Mr Yadav, who, just days ago launched his campaign for a second term as Chief Minister, reiterated, "I am opposed to black money. I do not want



it".

The sudden demonetization or removal of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes from circulation is seen as a radical and big move in combating tax evasion, but it has also sent most of India rushing to banks in endless lines for the new notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000. Opposition parties have alleged that it is the poor, who work and live in a cash economy, who have been trammeled by a reform meant to strike at the corrupt rich.

Mr Yadav, 43, said that when the poor are troubled, they respond by spurning the government that inflicted hardship upon them.

"This government has caused immense pain to commoners," he said, suggesting that the currency reboot will cost the BJP heavily in the Uttar Pradesh election