Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi slammed the demonetisation move saying this move will turn out to be a big scam. “Decision that was taken was not thought through, it was based on one person’s thinking. The big black money players have been allowed to go scot-free by PM,” he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Centre's demonetisation move as the "black policy of the black government". Also calling the move as a “big black scandal”, Banerjee said that the money launderers are taking the advantage of 'hardship of common citizens'.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan questioned the Centre’s claim that demonetisation was to check black money, saying there were reports that black money lobbyists had got prior information about scrapping of the higher denomination notes.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused that BJP had warned all “friends” who stashed away their “black money” well before the announcement of demonetisation. “In the name of fighting black money, a big scam is being implemented,” he said. “The decision should be rolled back. People will lose jobs and this will hurt the economy,” he added.

Over 150 eminent citizens issued a statement against demonetisation, questioning its efficacy in eliminating black money. The statement, signed by Prabhat Patnaik, Nayantara Sahgal, Prashant Bhushan, Jayati Ghosh, Anand Patwardhan and several others, highlighted the dire situation the common people have found themselves in as a consequence of this decision.

The Shiv Sena alleged that the path adopted by Modi to halt black money flow is "demonic" and "unsystematic" that has resulted in "financial anarchy" in the nation. It said PM Modi has struck and wounded Indian citizens and mocked their nationalism by saluting them for bearing the anarchy.

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, earlier in August, said there are other ways of tackling black money. He said, “I think there are ways around demonetisation. It is not that easy to flush out the black money,” adding black money hoarders will find other ways.

Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram ridiculed the Centre's demonetisation move, asking if banks doling out cash to citizens was "proof" that 'achhe din' have arrived. “They say withdrawal of notes that are highly in circulation will not affect the common man. That is quite a funny statement,” he said.