India, a land of 1.25 billion people is currently going through an economic crisis of some sorts. From low GDP numbers to growth rate, lack of jobs, slowdown, global economic crisis has hit Indian economy very hard and India, which aspires to become the global player is standing at crossroads in current economic situation. In May 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Narendra Modi swept the polls and formed the government on their own and promised the electorate that the change is for better and things will change in near future on all the parameters.
Is India going through an economic crisis? Is this the end of Indian story? Are India’s economic wounds self-inflicted? According to veteran BJP leader and former finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (1999-2004) Yashwant Sinha, the state of the economy is in dire straits and Sinha said that responsibility lies with prime minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley. Sinha mentions many things in his article for The Indian Express newspaper titled “I need to speak up now”. He dissected the Indian economy and held demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax’s shoddy implementation responsible for the slowdown of Indian economy.
Yashwant Sinha in his opinion about the economy is not quite off the mark, as the double whammy of demonetisation and GST did hit economy hard and whole financial balance went awry. PM Modi had done demonetisation to eliminate black money from the system, stop terror funding, scrapping of fake currency, push for digitisation of economy and it was a noble exercise in principle, but its execution on the ground was just not possible. The findings by the RBI showed that 99 percent of the demonetised currency returned to the system, so the whole purpose of this gigantic exercise remains defeated. The next big hurdle that the economy is currently facing is the hasty implementation of Goods and Services Tax, which has crippled the traders and the businesses in general have faced a tremendous setback. India, which is the fastest growing economy in the world, is currently facing adverse situation economically and Yashwant Sinha has hit the nail on the head, when talking about the economy.
Is Sinha only talking about economy to settle personal issues? Is this a case of sour grapes? According to many experts and commentators, Sinha is not happy with being sidelined in the party and that’s why he is airing his grievances in public. Sinha, after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was not made a union minister and currently playing a role of mentor of sorts rather than being involved in the functioning of the party. Another question that arises is if the economic situation was so bad then what was Sinha doing for the past three and a half years and why didn’t he addressed this issues privately to PM Modi and Jaitley.
Indian republic is difficult to govern and manage as it is such a huge state with different sets of rules for different states and all the steps taken by the current dispensation is in the right direction to tame the weak economy. PM Modi now has to take the bull by the horns and start delivering on the ground and stop with the rhetoric. BJP, which calls itself a party with a difference, has to find alternatives rather than blaming everything on Congress and their decisions over the past 60 years. PM Modi also has to stop changing the goal posts and narrative all the time and should be concentrating on core and meaty issues concerning the governance.
Also read: Yashwant Sinha Outburst: His hard-hitting take on economy and how others reacted
Indian youth is both aspirational and hard-working and he wants a better life for himself and for his family. PM Narendra Modi while campaigning for the saffron party in 2014 decided to challenge the electorate and promised ‘Acche Din’ and ‘Sabka Saath , Sabka Vikas’, but time is running out for Modi and before he knows it elections for 2019 would be just round the corner and Indian people want to see results instead of empty promises.
Post Script: Whether you agree with Yashwant Sinha or not, but you cannot dispute hard data and numbers and currently with GDP being 5.7% for the quarter and no immediate sign of revival and jobs not being created, the Indian story has taken quite a hit and Sinha’s scathing attack should come as a timely reminder for the hierarchy of BJP and concrete steps should be taken by none other than Prime Minister to revive India’s failing economy.
