Leading opposition figure Rahul Gandhi has demanded an investigation into allegations that two Indian conglomerates paid millions of rupees as bribes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2013-14 when he was governing a western state. Gandhi, the Congress Party vice president and scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi family, says the allegations were found in diary notes and computer records of the Sahara Group and the Birla Group and are in possession of income tax authorities. "Why these accusations are not being probed?" Gandhi asked on Wednesday at a party meeting in Gujarat state. Modi was the state's top elected official before he became prime minister in May 2014. Meanwhile, a leading political ally of Narendra Modi has abruptly distanced himself from the Indian prime minister's move to scrap high-value banknotes, as broad initial support for the radical monetary reform showed signs of crumbling. The shift by N. Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of the southern state Andhra Pradesh, came six weeks after Modi announced to a stunned nation that he would scrap 86 percent of the cash in circulation. While Modi remains by far India's most popular politician, any crack in his authority could have negative implications in state elections next year that will set the tone for his expected bid for a second term in 2019. Naidu's regional party is allied to Modi's nationalists and he heads a federal committee set up to find ways to soften the impact on ordinary people of the crackdown against tax evaders, racketeers and bribe takers who rely on so-called "black cash." "I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem," Naidu told party workers on Tuesday in the city of Vijayawada. Meanwhile, India's central bank on Wednesday rolled back an order restricting deposits of banned rupee bills into bank accounts On Monday, just days before the Dec. 30 deadline to swap old rupee bills for new ones, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that deposits of over 5,000 rupees in old banknotes would only be allowed once before the cut-off date. People would also be required to explain why they had not deposited the money earlier. The RBI reversed its decision on Wednesday for all "verified" bank accounts, without giving a reason. "On a review of above, we advise that provisions of the above circular... not apply," it said, citing the Monday order. The restrictions had caused anger and confusion across the country, with local media reporting that some banks had declined deposits higher than 5,000 rupees. Opposition parties had also attacked the move, with many Indians already facing a shortage of cash as ATMs run dry and long queues materialize outside banks across the country as people try to get rid of their old notes — some 86 percent of all bills in circulation. Political activist and Modi critic Yogendra Yadav lashed out at the government on Twitter. "I was assured by the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the RBI that there was no need to rush to the banks and that I had till 30 December for making any deposit. I believed them," Yadav tweeted. — Agencies
