Will the BJP act on Sinha’s words?

In a newspaper article on Wednesday, Yashwant Sinha, a senior BJP leader and finance minister under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, spoke pointedly of the “mess” made of the Indian economy under the Narendra Modi government, and also referred to the atmosphere of “fear” that prevails in the country.

The stinging rebuke emanating from Mr Sinha, who is a member of the BJP’s “Margdarshak Mandal” or Guidance Council, may be seen as a reasoned refutation of the self-congratulatory resolutions passed, and the speeches made, specially by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, at the recent extended meeting of the BJP national executive which aimed to get the party into fighting mode for the 2019 Lok Sabha election through channelling propaganda appropriately.

The senior BJP leader made two telling points that have usually come from the party’s detractors that the GDP growth has slipped below four per cent if the method of calculation is reverted to what prevailed before Mr Modi’s government changed it, and that any chance of the economy recovering its elan by 2019 appears unlikely.

This was in sharp contrast with the BJP president’s speech at the extended national executive, where he had sought to drum up morale within the party by speaking in deafening tones of the “performance” of the present government when it is plain to see where we are headed.

The ruling party mobilised Union home minister Rajnath Singh and railway minister Piyush Goel, who was only recently elevated to Cabinet rank, to hit back at Mr Sinha, but their words lacked conviction and seemed a reiteration of the propaganda line that the Indian economy was the driver of the world economy and was the fastest growing in the world.

Mr Singh, in particular, may have to eat his words at election time since he is an important leader of the BJP from UP and may not at that stage wish to be seen as propagating thoughts that are not in line with the experience of the common people.

Ordinary Indians today know that the economy is not moving. Agriculture has turned a mess. Industrial production is stagnant because fresh investments are not taking place. Exports are below par. Jobs have vanished. Outside the major cities, prominent banks still retain severe limits on how much cash their ATMs will dispense to account holders per day. This means people cannot withdraw their own money nearly a year after demonetisation was announced. In an economy that still very largely runs on cash, this severely inhibits economic activity, which, in turn, has a sharp bearing on people’s well-being.

Mr Sinha felt it was his moral duty as a citizen to speak up in the hope that the ruling party may attempt course correction. Only time will tell if his words can become a call for action within the BJP.