The decision to ban the two high-value currency notes was taken on November 8, 2016. The decision to ban the two high-value currency notes was taken on November 8, 2016.

On the second anniversary of demonetisation Thursday, the Congress led the charge in criticising the note ban exercise and found support in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said the “scars and wounds” caused by demonetisation were getting more visible with time, while former finance minister Chidambaram called the notes ban exercise a money laundering scheme.

On Monday, Congress leader Manish Tiwari demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology to the country for “ruining and wrecking” the economy. Slamming the BJP government for attempting a “Tughlaqi” experiment, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, “The prime minister stood up two years ago on November 8 and addressed the nation, demonetising almost Rs 16.99 lakh crore in circulation.”

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday declined to reveal the cost incurred on shredding banned currency notes worth Rs 15,31,073 crore which returned to banks following note ban. To a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the RBI said the process of destruction of banned notes got over in March 2018.