Remove Gandhi's portrait from Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes: Congress MLA to PM Modi

KOTA: A Congress MLA has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Mahatma Gandhi's portrait should be removed from Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes as they are being used in cases of corruption and in bars.

Drawing attention to cases of corruption in Rajasthan, Bharat Singh Kundanpur, the MLA from the ruling party in the state, said a total of 616 graft cases were registered between January 2019 and December 31, 2020, with an average of two cases registered per day.

In a letter sent to PM Modi on the 152nd birth anniversary of Gandhi on October 2, he urged him (the prime minister) to replace Gandhi's portrait on high-value currency notes with a picture of his iconic spectacles.

The Sangod MLA said Gandhi's portrait should be retained only on the notes in the denominations of Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200 as they are widely used by the poor and Gandhi throughout his life worked for the destitute.

"It is my suggestion that a picture of Gandhi's spectacles can be used on Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes. Ashok Chakra can also work effectively for this purpose," Kundanpur said in the letter.

The Congress MLA said corruption has widely spread all over the country in the last seven-and-a-half decades.

"Mahatma Gandhi symbolises truth and Gandhi's picture is printed on Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, which are generally used in practices of corruption and in exchange of bribes," he added.

He said the high value currency notes are used in bars, bringing "disgrace" to Gandhi.

"Gandhi's portrait should be removed from Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes and it should be used only on small currency notes which are used by the poor," the MLA said in the letter.