PRIME Minister Narendra Modi strongly slammed the critics of gloom and doom in an elaborate defence of the economic situation, which shows that former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s stinging attack on the government’s economic policies did not go in vain. However, his efforts to downplay the current recessionary trend through an hour-long speech could not adequately camouflage his anxiety over the sluggishness in the economy. In the process, he not only acknowledged that the economy had lost its growth momentum but even said he never claimed to be an economist. These concessions are a tacit acceptance of some reform decisions failing to fire as intended and the willingness of the PM to undertake a mid-course correction. The PM’s admission that the economy needs special attention is not sufficient. He must look beyond data and numbers cited chapter and verse by him. Higher inflow of foreign investments and a robust performance by the automobile sector are, at best, positive indications but not quite enough. There is no doubt that much more needs to be done to overcome the impact of demonetisation and GST implementation. PM Modi’s assertion that the government is committed to reversing this downward trend raises hope for the poor who have been the hardest hit. Recently government data has posted a decline in fertiliser and cement output, which would imply poor performance of the real estate and farm segments, major employers of casual labourers.In order to shield the poor, the RBI has decided not to cut the interest rate, fearing that an increased supply of money would stoke inflation. One of the major reasons for its apprehensions is the deficient monsoon that threatens to aggravate the woes of farmers. Now, the ball is in the PM’s court and he needs to take definitive actions to stimulate the economy. The best way forward is to revive labour-intensive small and medium enterprises, which have been badly hit by demonetisation and GST. In his speech, the PM promised to help them. To do so, he must relax GST norms for SMEs until they fully adjust to the new system.
Democracy, ‘darr’ can’t go together, says defiant Sinha
(From left) Congress leader Manish Tewari, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a book release function in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui
Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 5
“The soul of democracy is consensus, it is simply not numbers. Even if you have numbers, you have to try and reach out to other people and try and take them along. Democracy and ‘darr’ (fear) do not go together,” said former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha at an event here today.In the eye of a political storm since his recent critique of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the government’s “economic mess”, Sinha remains defiant. He was speaking on the occasion of release of senior Congress leader Manish Tewari’s new book — Tidings of Troubled Times. On stage, the two shared space with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while dismissing off speculation of any political realignment.Central to their remarks was “Modinomics” and “atmosphere of fear”in the country. Kejriwal set the ball rolling with criticism of demonetisation and GST, throwing figures of job losses.“There is an atmosphere of fear that I have never seen before across the country. We do not know how many ED and I-T notices have been sent out. This is a ‘raid raj’ like never before,” said Kejriwal.Taking on his party, Sinha said the government tried pitting his son and minister Jayant against him to divert attention from real issues, but it failed else “a certain gentleman would not have spoken for an hour and fifteen minutes yesterday”, hinting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech yesterday.Without naming Modi, Sinha said he had been called ‘Shalya’ of Mahabharata, but it was only ‘Duryodhan’ and ‘Dushashan’ who were the most infamous brothers among the Kaurva clan. Sinha said he wouldn’t mind if party acted against him, though he had not done anything to deserve it.On the Opposition getting its act together, Manish Tewari reminded the audience, “Politics is all about probabilities and probabilities are eternal”. The Delhi CM claimed the “battle of 2019 will be BJP versus rest of the country”.