Yashwant Sinha"I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister (Jaitley) has made of the economy," Sinha wrote in a piece published yesterday. He called
demonetisation "an unmitigated economic disaster" and said the
GST rollout was "badly conceived and poorly implemented."
P ChidambaramReacting to Sinha's column, senior
Congress leader P Chidambaram charged, "Yashwant Sinha speaks Truth to Power. Will Power now admit the Truth that economy is sinking?... ETERNAL TRUTH: No matter what Power does, ultimately Truth will prevail"
Rahul GandhiSoon after, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted a caustic take on what he considers a “crashing” economy, saying, "Ladies & Gentlemen, this is your copilot & FM speaking. Plz fasten your seat belts & take brace position.The wings have fallen off our plane."
Rajnath SinghTop BJP leaders were swift to defended their government against Sinha's criticism. "The whole world admits that India is the fastest growing economy in the world. No one should forget this fact. In the matter of economy, in the international arena, India's credibility has been established," said Union minister Rajnath Singh.
Piyush Goyal"There is bound to be some uncertainty when some transformative changes are made. It (economy) may take some amount of time to absorb these changes but this will pass. Challenges come but we will stay the course. The government is steadfast in its resolve to end black money and corruption. It won't flinch due to some criticism," said railway minister Piyush Goyal.
Jayant SinhaToday’s salvos began with another newspaper article, this time with no less than Yashwant’s Sinha’s son, Union minister Jayant Sinha, leaping to the government’s defence. "Unfortunately, these articles draw sweeping conclusions from a narrow set of facts, and quite simply miss the fundamental structural reforms that are transforming the economy," he said. "We are creating a robust new economy that will power long-term growth and job creation for 'New India'."
Yashwant SinhaSoon enough, Yashwant Sinha was back defending his article, and making the BJP squirm again while defending the pewvioys Congress-led
UPA goverbment. "The economy is in decline. We can't blame the previous government, we had plenty of time and chances," he said. "I am not talking just based on one quarter's numbers, the economy has been falling for six straight quarters," said Yashwant Sinha
Prakash Karat
CPM leader Prakash Karat then dived into the debate, accusing the government of vested interests. "No jobs are being created, this is the major failure of this government. They are only working for the benefits of corporates," Karat accused.