As a bank holiday on Monday allowed Indians to take a break from the mad scramble to find cash, Prime Minister Narendra Modi staked his future on a bold plan to "demonetise" the economy by withdrawing large-denomination notes.

Speaking at a massive political rally, Mr Modi asked Indians for 50 days to see the fruits of his decision a week ago to suddenly scrap 500- and 1,000-rupee notes ($10 and $20 notes respectively) in a bid to tackle widespread tax evasion and corruption.