In a seething commentary on the Narendra Modi government over its economic policies on one year of note ban, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has said that demonetisation wiped off 2 per cent of the country’s GDP and destroyed SMEs and the informal sector.
In an article penned for The Financial Times on the first anniversary of PM Modi’s November 8 decision, Rahul Gandhi said that demonetisation has “ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians”.
"The prime minister claimed his decision was aimed at wiping out corruption. Twelve months on the only thing he has wiped out is confidence in our once booming economy," Rahul wrote.
Rahul’s article is also critical of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. “Bureaucratic and complex, it has devastated livelihoods, creating a modern day “Licence Raj” that imposes rigid controls and gives vast powers to government officials,” he said.
Rahul’s article also discusses the challenges that China’s dominance in blue-collar jobs poses to other countries as well. Rahul says the Dragon’s supremacy has created millions of disenfranchised and angry workers who express their frustration at the ballot box — whether in votes for Mr Modi, Brexit, or Donald Trump.
“The rise of democratically elected autocrats, such as Mr Modi, is driven by two factors: a massive increase in connectivity and its profound impact on institutions; and, second, China’s dominance of the global job market.”
The Congress VP further said that PM Modi had damaged India by converting anger created by joblessness and lack of economic opportunity into communal hatred.
“He has chosen to hide behind a shallow, hate-filled political narrative. Anger might have brought Mr Modi to power but it will never create jobs or fix India’s institutions.”
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