New Delhi: Urging the people to join the campaign against corruption and black money, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Friday said the government’s decision to demonetise high value currency notes will greatly benefit the economy.

“The Narendra Modi government has embarked on a campaign to end corruption. I appeal to people to join in and give it speed. The demonetisation step, which has been taken, will greatly benefit the economy,” Shah said addressing a press conference here.

The BJP President questioned the political parties on their criticism of demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes.

“I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal: what is your problem with this move? Are you in favour of black money or against it? Are you in favour of terrorism or against it? It is time for these four parties to come forward to explain why they are opposing this [move]. It is time for the people of the country to ask Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress to explain themselves,” he said.

He said the country’s interest was more important than political parties who were opposing the decision.

“I can understand if this move has sparked panic among black marketeers or terrorists or drug dealers. But I am surprised at the panic that it has caused among the various political parties. Poor will not suffer, but some political parties have apparently become poor,” he said.

Criticising West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee, who described the demonetisation move as “draconian”, Shah said, “I know Mamata Banerjee opposed the move, but politicians should not join ranks of black marketeers, drug dealers who are upset.”

Denying that the demonetisation move was politically motivated, Shah said, “The government made the move to clear black money. That is why there will be 200 per cent penalty. This decision has nothing to do with polls.”

Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati on Friday said that the decision was a case of undeclared economic emergency in the country.

“PM’s decision is [a] bit selfish, if they really wanted to curb black money, then why they took this decision after so many years. Ninety per cent of people in this country are not happy with the demonetisation scheme introduced by the government. To hide their inefficiency, economic emergency-like situation has been created by the government as elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) are close and it will impact the functioning of political parties and their poll campaign,” Mayawati said.

Shah, however, dismissed suggestions that the move was timed to give BJP an edge in upcoming state legislative assembly polls in Punjab and UP.

“This is a democracy. There isn’t a year that goes by in this country without an election. There are two elections coming up next year,” he explained.

Shah said the government was taking steps to deal with the problems faced by people in the aftermath of the demonetisation of high value currency notes.

“Whenever there is a move to push the nation towards progress, some people will be inconvenienced. I appeal to the people to support us through this. I appeal to the media to make it easier for the people to deal with any inconvenience. It is only a matter of a few days or a week before things return to normalcy. I know people have to wait in long queues outside ATMs to get fresh cash but I expect their cooperation at this point of time,” Shah said.

He assured the people that there will be no inquiry on depositing up to Rs2.5 lakh [Rs250,000, Dh13,637] in banks. He repeated that law abiding citizens will have nothing to fear from the move.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced the government’s decision to demonetise Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes to tackle the menace of black money.