Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday blamed banks for the desired benefits of demonetisation not reaching the common man. Banks did not implement the exercise in late 2016 properly, Kumar said at a meeting with a state-level bankers’ committee.

“I had supported note ban,” he said, according to PTI. “But because of the role played by banks, people could not be benefited to the extent they should have. People deposited huge amounts in scrapped currency and the money was laundered.”

Deputy chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi later dismissed suggestions that Kumar meant that demonetisation failed to achieve its goals. “The chief minister did not say that demonetisation has failed,” said Modi. “Rather, he said that the role of some of the bankers was not right during its implementation phase. There had been reports of irregular deposits of demonetised currency in banks.”

You(banks) are very particular in recovering debts from small people but what about those powerful people who take loans & disappear?Its surprising that even the highest officers are unaware.Banking system needs reform, I am not criticizing,I am concerned:Nitish Kumar (26.5.18) pic.twitter.com/tnXyZZeLUG — ANI (@ANI) May 27, 2018

Soon after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were demonetised in November 2016, Nitish Kumar had called it a “courageous move” and supported it “in principle”, though he said poor execution had inconvenienced the common man. Three months later however, he said that former prime minister Manmohan Singh was right to call demonetisation monumental mismanagement. Kumar’s JD(U) joined the BJP as part of the National Democratic Alliance only in August 2017.

During the meeting, Kumar also criticised bankers for failing to prevent large loan defaults. “Banks are so strict in recovering amounts lent to small-scale borrowers,” the Janata Dal (United) leader said. “Why is the same strictness not shown in the case of big defaulters?”

Kumar also seemed to renew the demand for a special category status for Bihar. He said the state could not attract investments from the private sector without the special category status, NDTV reported.

In March, Kumar had said he had not given up the demand “for even one second” since raising the matter with the Prime Minister’s Office in 2005. The Rashtriya Janata Dal had threatened to hit the streets if Kumar failed to “speak up” now that his party had tied up with the BJP, which rules at the Centre.