Sinha lambasts Singh for 1991 economic mess remark

Manmohan keeps holding me responsible for crisis

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation on Friday sought masses’ support for the latest fiscal reform steps to pull the UPA-II government out of the economic mess as he did in 1991, many interpreted it as Singh is drawing parallel with pre-liberalisation crisis to salvage his sagging image.

But the prime minister’s reference to 1991 economic situation has apparently not gone down well with senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who was the then finance minister in Chandrasekhar-led government that lasted for nearly eight months between 1990 to 1991.

Singh’s comment was inferred by Sinha at a press briefing on Saturday that the prime minister keeps holding him responsible for the “economic ills”.  But the BJP Jharkhand MP sarcastically asked, “Who is in power for the last eight years (hinting at the UPA)?”  “It’s not about eight months”, he said in the same breath.

“The nation will not allow you (Manmohan Singh) to walk away with falsehood day-in-and-day-out”, he said, adding, “Manmohan Singh of 2012 is not Manmohan Singh of 2001. He stands exposed as economist and the prime minister.”

With Chandrasekhar dead and so his party, Sinha is only left to argue the critique, despite the fact that he switched over to the BJP in early 90s. He again got the opportunity to serve the South Block as the finance minister when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 1998.

On earlier occasions too, Sinha has used idioms to describe Singh as “over-rated economists” and “government consultant”, giving the spectrum of love and hate relationship the two ex-finance ministers have for each other.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician also gave a structured response to the prime minister’s address to the nation by saying that it was “disappointing” and a “diversionary tactic” to sweep under the carpet the price rise and corruption. He also questioned what he claimed was Singh’s silence on price rise and corruption.

When asked why the NDA was for 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail, Sinha agreed that such a proposal had come up during Atal Bihari Vajapaye’s regime “but it was shot down by his government on the grounds that the circumstances were not conducive for foreign investment”.

Sinha recalled an instance of Congress leader PR Dasmunshi’s objection raised in Parliament on December 16, 2002 over NDA’s discussion about FDI in retail. Dasmunshi, who has been in coma for quite some time now, had said that it would be anti-national on the part of the NDA government if they attempt to bring FDI in retail, the former cabinet minister recalled. 

Sinha stated that his colleague in government, Arun Shourie, had clarified in Parliament that the NDA had said “no to the issue”.

The BJP leader said first the UPA corrupted the food supply chain system due to which the officers were taking money to clear rotten and pesticide-ridden edible material and created a situation where they are now pushing for global chains like Walmart to expand its business in India.