Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 was done to defeat Pakistan in its proxy war against India.

Speaking at Ballia after flagging off the fourth phase of the Parivartan Yatra of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajnath Singh said the decision was a message to the neighbouring country that we would defeat it in all its nefarious activities.

"Pakistan ko spasht sandesh hai, hum aapko idhar bhi maar sakte hain, aur udhar bhi (This is a clear message to Pakistan. We can hit 'there as well as here')", he said. 

He also took on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and said that the war within the ruling party should be brought to an immediate end or the state cabinet should recommend immediate elections.

Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra, who was also present on the occasion, said that the Narendra Modi government was committed to wiping out black money. The bold demonetisation decision was taken by the central government keeping in mind many things like ill-gotten money and counterfeit currency.