[caption id="attachment_103316" align="alignleft" width="300"] Zafaryab Jilani [/caption] Muhammad Mujahid Syed LUCKNOW — Zafaryab Jilani, a senior lawyer and the convener of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC), has lashed out at the federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over its decision to demonetize the large currency banknotes in India. Jilani, who is also the additional advocate general of the Uttar Pradesh government, hailed Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulamayam Singh for opposing the federal government's move. Jilani, in an exclusive interview to Saudi Gazette last week, said that his party chief opposed demonetization on principle. "The federal government's decision to demonetize Rs1,000 and Rs500 banknotes has almost paralyzed the economy," claimed Jilani. Jilani added: "As Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has already said this move has only benefitted corporate families. The lower classes are at the receiving end." "The government's demonetization decision has given a boost to secular parties in Uttar Pradesh because farmers, petty shopkeepers, traders and people from the lower middle class who have been shaken by the decision will no longer be swayed by communal and divisive agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party for electoral gains in the upcoming state elections. This demonetization is self-defeating for the BJP and a Godsend opportunity for secular parties," he said. In an answer to a question regarding people's support to Narendra Modi as highlighted in electronic and print media, he said, "The economists, intellectuals, politicians and the common man have opposed Modi's ill-conceived and poorly implemented move. Only the electronic media outlets are still in favor of Modi. Print media are divided. There are different reasons for it. The owners of these media outlets are big businessmen who were already taken into confidence by the Modi government. They are having business relations and are also getting several concessions in their businesses. Names of Adani and Ambani have come to light time and again in this regard. Eighteen or twenty news channels are owned by only Ambani. Despite this, the media have highlighted that majority is predominantly suffering as a result of this decision," Jilani said. Asked about the possibility of Bihar like grand alliance in the upcoming state legislative assembly elections, he said: "Apparently, there is no possibility of Bihar-like alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in UP. Both are claimants of the chief ministership in the state. As far as the vote share is concerned, the Congress party is placed fourth in the electoral calculations. So, other parties which are not main players, alliance with them, cannot be called a grand alliance." "There are signs that the rift is not likely to affect the outcome of the upcoming elections. The popularity of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has in fact gone up. No party has ever leveled charges of corruption or wrongdoings against him. His development agenda is well- known to the people. Akhilesh's secular credentials are praised by the people. His image is self-made. There is no match to him in the group of leaders in the state," he replied in answer to a question regarding the recent differences coming to the fore among the family members of party chief Mulayam Singh.
