The Congress on Tuesday sought a white paper on the demonetisation coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the sweeping currency note recall, saying people deserved to know the scale of the “calamity” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unleashed on the country.

While the BJP and Modi seemed to have forgotten entirely about what was once sold as a “masterstroke”, the Congress flooded social media with photographs and analyses of the catastrophic developments that followed the overnight scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8, 2016.

Modi had theatrically asked the people to give him 50 days and then punish him if his decision proved wrong. The Congress on Tuesday said the Prime Minister should again address the nation at the same time — 8pm — as six years ago and explain the gains and losses of the demonetisation to the people whom his decision had caused acute misery.

The Congress alleged the note withdrawal was not a mistake and that Modi had thrust the horror on the country with sinister motives, and without the approval of his cabinet and key institutions like the RBI.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Demonetisation was a deliberate move by ‘PayPM’ to ensure 2-3 of his billionaire friends monopolise India’s economy by finishing small & medium businesses.”

“PayPM” was clearly a takeoff of the Karnataka Congress’s “PayCM” campaign against chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, whom it accuses of running a government that takes a 40 per cent commission to clear contractors’ bills. The “PayCM” posters, designed on the lines of the Paytm logo, angered the Karnataka government so much that many Congress workers were arrested for putting them up.

Attached to Rahul’s tweet was a video that highlighted the misery caused by the demonetisation, showing how people had to queue up in front of banks and how businesses faced closure for want of cash.

It also showcased how Rahul had consistently attacked the decision, replaying his statements against the government’s claims of fighting evils such as corruption, black money, terror funding and counterfeit currency through the note withdrawal.

Rahul is shown saying: “Notebandi was not a mistake. It was an attack on the people of India. The intention was to help the most corrupt of this land to change their black money into white.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge issued a statement describing the demonetisation as an “epic failure” and a “calamity”.

“Modi wanted 50 days; the nation gave him six years but none of the claims has been realised. The Modi government had claimed in the Supreme Court that Rs 3 to 4 lakh crore of demonetised currency would not return to the system and this black money would be wiped out,” he said.

But the “reality” was that “99.3 per cent of the demonetised currency was back in the system”, he added. “Black money thrives under PM Modi.”

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said: “This is the sixth anniversary of the destruction of the Indian economy. This is the sixth anniversary of a reckless decision that derailed India’s high growth trajectory and job-creation capacities. This was organised loot. This was the largest heist any country ever witnessed.

“Economic growth went downhill from 8.3 per cent, never to regain its momentum. Which stated objective of the demonetisation was fulfilled? Please bring out a white paper, detailing the losses and gains.”

Vallabh added: “8pm (on November 8, 2016, when Modi announced the demonetisation) created panic in the minds of people. Small and medium businesses were destroyed. The informal sector lies in ruins....”

“Why can’t Modi do a Mann ki Baat on notebandi? ...You launched your plan to destroy jobs on November 8; now tell us what your job-creation plan is.

“The RBI says that in 2021- 22, fake currency in the Rs 500 denomination was up by 102 per cent and that in Rs 2,000 was up by 55 per cent. Black money stashed in Swiss Banks has increased. The government itself told the United Nations Security Council that terror camps had increased from 150 to 225. And where are those pink Rs 2,000 notes? Has anybody seen them in the last six months? Even the banks don’t see them. They are all with black money hoarders.”