As America counts votes, India counts notes
By Shibani Gokhale and Rakshitha Arni
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stole the thunder from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Just as Americans went to the polls this morning, Modi announced that the two largest Indian currency notes, Rs 500 and Rs 1000, would be invalid in four hours.
Overnight, India’s attention shifted from the U.S. presidential elections to Modi’s announcement.The unprecedented move came in the wake of the government’s promise to curb corruption and the circulation of counterfeit money in the world’s largest democracy. Those holding cash are now required to deposit it in bank accounts and to exchange their currency into lower denominations within a 50-day window. The government also plans to introduce new notes of Rs.500 and Rs.2000 soon.
Indians on Twitter and Facebook had a field day with the tag #blackmoney, which was trending above #electionday and #election2016.
While some Indians queued outside banks to get their currency exchanged in time, others were busy flooding social media with new memes.
Some were quick to point out the irony.
Trump recently made headlines when he used Modi’s popular campaign catch-phrase, “Ab ki bar Modi sarkar” (‘this time, Modi Government’) for his own spin-off, “Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkaar” to appease the Indian-American voters at a rally in New Jersey. Here’s what one facebook user had to say about that:
Others came with up with some witty wordplay.
