Contradicting BJP chief Amit Shah’s stand that the economy was sluggish due to ‘technical reasons’, Sinha says it is here to stay and the slowdown in demand has only aggravated the situation
NEW DELHI (TIP): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government’s economic policies,saying that the economy is headed for a downward spiral.
In an opinion piece for the Indian Express, Sinha lambasts the government’s decisions on the economic front. “I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister has made of the economy,” writes Sinha, adding that many within the BJP are aware of the situation, but fear speaking up. In the no-holds barred piece, Sinha says demonetisation proved to be an “unmitigated economic disaster” and that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a “badly conceived and poorly implemented” havoc.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley comes in for the bulk of the criticism, as Sinha writes, “Arun Jaitley is considered to be the best and the brightest in this government.
It was a foregone conclusion before the 2014 elections that he would be the finance minister in the new government.”
Sinha further took on BJP president Amit Shah for citing ‘technical’ reasons for slowdown in the GDP rate and wrote, “Even the SBI, the largest public sector bank of the country, has stated with unusual frankness that the slowdown is not transient or “technical”, it is here to stay and the slowdown in demand has only aggravated the situation. It has openly contradicted what the BJP president said just a few days ago that the slowdown in the last quarter was on account of “technical” reasons and will be corrected soon.”
On that note, the figures of the first quarter of fiscal 2017-18, released last month, showed the GDP growth rate falling at 5.7 percent, while in the concurrent period last year, the GDP was soaring ahead at 7.6 per cent.
In his article, Sinha also took a jibe at raids conducted by Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation and said that it has become “a new game to instill fear in the minds of people,” adding, “We protested against raid raj when we were in opposition. Today it has become the order of the day.”
He also ridiculed the “massive” loan waivers given to the farmers “varying from one paise to a few rupees.”
Sinha concluded his article by saying, “The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters. His finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters.”
SINHA A JOB APPLICANT AT 80: JAITLEY
NEW DELHI (TIP): Finance minister Arun Jaitley on September 28 took a dig at predecessors Yashwant Sinha and P Chidambaram, who have been critical of his handling of the economy.
In a speech at a book release function, Jaitley reminded Sinha, a colleague of his in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that when he was finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998-2002, non-performing assets (NPAs) of commercial banks stood at a “staggering” 15% of total advances. And in 1991, Sinha had left the office of finance minister with only $4 billion of foreign exchange reserves.
“The Reserve Bank of India had to bring down interest rates radically to deal with the high level of NPAs,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley said he does not have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist and cannot conveniently forget the past record.
Sinha’s unsually sharp piece caused quite the stir and he started trending on social media. The Opposition has reacted strongly to the piece, with senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram lauding Sinha’s words as proof that truth will prevail.
“Yashwant Sinha speaks Truth to Power. Will Power now admit the Truth that economy is sinking?,” tweeted Chiadambaram.
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