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NEW DELHI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Indian parliament witnessed massive uproar on Thursday as opposition parties attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over the sudden demonetization of currency notes of higher denominations.
Both Houses of Parliament, the Lower House (Lok Sabha) and the Upper House (Rajya Sabha), had to be adjourned on the second day of the Winter Session after opposition lawmakers came down heavily on the Indian government over the impact of the scrapping on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
In Rajya Sabha, opposition parties demanded the presence of Modi, describing the government's move as "economic anarchy". However, the government refused to give in to the demand, saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the debate.
In Lok Sabha, opposition parties moved 21 adjournment motions to debate and vote on the scrapping of currency notes of higher denominations. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she would allow the debate on the condition that lawmakers stopped shouting.
In the end, both Houses were adjourned even though the government had agreed to discuss any issue in Parliament earlier in the day. "We are ready to discuss any issue. You have got every right to make demands, and the government will reply to it all," said Venkaiah Naidu, the minister of information and broadcasting.
The government, meanwhile, rejected allegations that it selectively leaked information of scrapping of currency notes of higher denominations, terming the move as "sudden" and the claims as "baseless".
The 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were scrapped last week by the government, after the prime minister made a sudden televised address to the nation Tuesday to justify the move as an effort to curb the menace of black money and prevent circulation of counterfeit notes among terrorists.
