Just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited DMK Chief M Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai, the Dravidian party issued a statement that November 8 – the first anniversary of demonetisation - would be observed as ‘Black Day’.
“Demonetisation day to be observed as Black Day. The party leadership has announced that except 8 districts affected by rains, large scale protests will take place. In all the district capitals, protests condemning the BJP at the Centre will take place on November 8,” reads the DMK statement issued on Monday.
The release goes on to state that DMK members and cadre will wear black clothes and participate in large-scale protests across the state. However, the protests will not take place in rain-affected districts such as Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Thiruvannamalai, Vellore, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Thiruvarur as party members were involved in relief work.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ten-minute visit to Karunanidhi’s residence on Monday had political circles abuzz with speculation. During his meeting, the PM had enquired about the 94-year-old leader’s health. Those present also included DMK working Pressident MK Stalin, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan, along with BJP state Chief Tamilisai Soundrajan.
While the BJP and DMK were quick to term the meeting a “courtesy call”, questions were raised over the timing of the PM’s visit given that the 2G case verdict is expected to be pronounced soon.
A year after Modi announced demonetisation, the BJP had recently stated that it would mark its anniversary on November 8 as ‘Anti-Black Money Day’. This was in response to the Opposition’s decision to observe November 8 as ‘Black Day’, which called demonetisation the scam of the century. Opposition parties led by the Congress will hold protests on Wednesday to highlight the “ill-effects” the scrapping of high-value notes had on the economy.