New Delhi, Nov. 17: The Congress today feared the country would not recover from the impact of demonetisation in the next 12 months as agriculture, the rural economy in general, and the unorganised sectors would be hit hard.

"One man's Tughlaqi mindset has created a turmoil. What's worrying is that the decision was driven by political motives, not economic wisdom," Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said.

"The pain will last longer than feared. There's no question of recovery in the next 12 months as the rural economy, agriculture and the unorganised sectors will be very badly hit."

Ramesh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi either did not understand India's economy or had been misled.

"The National Institute of Financial Management, a premier think-thank working under the ministry of finance, had in a report on December 8, 2012, stated that the maximum black money was invested in real estate, followed by parking in offshore accounts, gold and bullion, and the least in cash," he added.

"Even the share of counterfeit money in our economy is barely 0.02 per cent. But Modi chose to target 80 per cent of the economy instead."

Ramesh expressed shock at finance minister Arun Jaitley's explanation that one of the objectives behind the decision was to move towards a digital economy. Ramesh said that only 2 crore Indians used credit cards, and 92 per cent of the jobs were in the unorganised sector, which is sustained by cash payments.

Many Opposition politicians have accused Modi of taking a hasty decision without seeking a consensus in the cabinet or advice from experts.

"I refuse to believe the Prime Minister was given this advice by bureaucrats and experts who know the functioning of the system and the economy," N.K. Premachandran, Revolutionary Socialist Party member from Kollam in Kerala, told The Telegraph .

"They (the government) are issuing so many notifications everyday - it reflects a lack of application of mind before the announcement. The government has the power to withdraw certain denominations of currency but the other restrictions are absolutely illegal."

Premachandran added: "As far as I understand the RBI rules, they don't have the power to restrict the withdrawal of money from one's account, put a tab on exchange, mark the customer with ink. Under what rules are they doing it?"

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that one of the Prime Minister's targets had been the Muslim community, large sections of which pay and save in cash because they've been excluded from the world of banking.

"The Sachar Committee report says that banks treat areas with high Muslim concentration as negative or red zones, not advisable for giving loans," he said. "More than 60 per cent Muslims are self-employed and most of them keep their money at home."