'Not surprised that Bhagwat drew same conclusions'

Echoing sentiments of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday said agriculture, unorganised sector, including workers and small businesses, youth and the middle class are the most stressed out due to the sagging economy.

In an extensive interview with the DH, Sinha held Union finance minister, finance ministry, Niti Aayog and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) accountable for the underperformance of the economy pointing out: “these are the bodies that oversee the country’s economy.”

Sinha, a critique of Modi dispensation, recently wrote an article in an English daily that had sparked a debate on the slowdown of the Indian economy.

Asked whether Bhagwat’s Dusshera speech was virtually an audit of more than three-year-old Modi government where he applauded it on diplomacy and other fronts while also expressing his concerns on the economy, agriculture and industry, Sinha said he was not surprised by the RSS chief’s comment.

“I’m not surprised,” Sinha said on Bhagwat’s agreement with his own views on the economy.
“Those are the realities which no person who is connected to grassroots can be unaware of.”

“About the farming community, I would take it further and say that the most stressed out sectors of our economy today are of course agriculture and then the unorganised sector which consists of the workers as well as small businesses.”

“The youth who are looking at unemployment staring at their face and the middle class are feeling the pinch of all this”.