JOIN USSwamy to Sinha: Critics within BJP target Jaitley for underperforming economy
It may appear that critics from within the BJP fold -- right from Subramanian Swamy to Yashwant Sinha -- are targeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley specifically for the underperforming economy after demonetisation and the rollout of the Good and Services Tax (GST).
But BJP insiders believe their real target eventually could be Prime Minister Narendra Modi if the situation does not change by year-end.
At the just concluded BJP conclave where over 2,000 leaders including 13 chief ministers, MPs and MLAs had gathered, the economic situation was uppermost on everyone's mind, they say.
After their huddle, the PM indirectly acknowledged the crisis by saying that "the BJP must think and act beyond elections."
His managers got the BJP to assert through a resolution adopted at the conclave that the current economic slowdown only reflects temporary “teething troubles” related to GST, which is the “biggest reform since Independence”.
The party also termed demonetisation as a major step towards fighting corruption and formalisation of businesses operating outside the tax net.
But BJP leaders said privately that the government and the party would have to "do more than that." There is no denial in the inner party circles that there are rising concerns over economic slowdown, especially criticism of GST implementation and demonetisation, which could be valid on several counts.
BJP insiders believe that both Swamy and Sinha may have their own reasons for striking back at the dispensation when they think it is the right time. The industry and businesses have been upset with the government on various issues including enforcement of the tax compliance rules and raids to unearth black money.
In fact, Swamy was the first BJP leader to assert in a TV interview that the economy is heading for a depression and it may “crash” if steps are not taken soon to revive it.
The BJP MP also revealed that he had written a 16-page letter to PM Modi in May 2016, warning the latter about the state of the economy.
RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy followed next by saying that “I have a feeling we are hitting the bottom now. There is no way this situation can continue.”
Once a strong votary of actions taken by Modi, Gurumurthy said measures like demonetisation, NPA rules, GST, bankruptcy law, fight against black money caused “too many disruptions, too soon” and the note ban, in particular, was “badly implemented.”
Earlier, former union minister Arun Shourie too came down heavily on the government saying it is only managing headlines and not the economy. Shourie called ‘demonetisation’ as Modi’s biggest economic move and "the greatest blunder in 70 years."