AP/PTI It is good that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has broken his silence and made an impassioned plea to countrymen to come out of the mould of negativity. Amid all the prophets of doom who have exaggerated the failings and inadequacies of the Modi government on a free run for the last couple of weeks, there is a glimmer of hope from the Prime Minister’s hour-long speech at a gathering of company secretaries. One can only hope that Modi’s speech will restore a measure of cautious optimism that all is not lost on the economic front.
The Prime Minister’s lament that his critics were seeing a slowdown in the last two quarters but were ignoring that the BJP government had brought down inflation from 10 per cent in the UPA regime to 2.5 per cent, shrunk Current Account Deficit to near 1 per cent from 4 per cent and brought down fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent from 4.5 per cent may be one-sided but it was necessary to counter those who were persistently pushing the gloomy side. GDP growth was 5.7 per cent or less than that on eight occasions during the previous UPA government, he said, wondering how pessimists were calling April-June growth of 5.7 per cent as doomsday.
It is, however, unfortunate that Modi has attributed motives to those who have been critical of his government’s economic policies and performance. Honest differences of opinion are natural in a democratic country and it is not right to damn the detractors as having a sinister motivation. His remark that “there are some people who sleep well only after they spread a feeling of pessimism all around. We need to recognise such people,” betrays a paranoii that Modi can do without.
His observation “I will not jeopardise the future of the country for my present gains,” and that his government would focus on structural reforms rather than giving doles to win praises can, is an assertion of his basic sincerity of purpose. Modi made these remarks apparently in the context of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s article in a daily headlined “I need to speak up now”, which described the economy as a “mess” that will not resuscitate before the next general elections. Modi could hardly have kept quiet after Sinha’s diatribe, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s jaundiced approach and former BJP union minister Arun Shourie’s scathing observations.
While Modi’s defence is perfectly in order, the Prime Minister cannot run away from the fact that the economy sorely needs steps to revive it. His contention that “Government is committed to reverse this trend…we are capable of that and ready to take decisions,” while adding that the decisions taken by the government will take India to a new growth trajectory, are reassuring and he must be allowed time to redeem his assurances. There is no denying that there is no better option to Modi in the country as of now and the BJP must be given time to deliver.
