Half-baked ideas won’t do Rise and fall of leaders
With reference to A K Bhattacharya’s article, “Wanted a post-demonetisation Budget” (January 18), the Budget should primarily be judged on the basis of what the government needs to do in the aftermath of demonetisation.
Even as there are arguably no visible signs of the success of demonetisation, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and its leaders have been blowing their trumpets a little too much.
Of course, Bhattacharya’s concern about fully achieving the twin objectives of eliminating black money and ushering in a cashless economy in India merit consideration. But serving half-baked food won’t do. Any plan to encourage digital transactions with an aim of reducing the current cash-gross domestic product ratio envisages that adequate cyber laws are in place. Such laws will ensure privacy of customers and guard their online transactions against cyber fraud and leak of personal data.
The writer has a five-point wish list for the Budget. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already ruled out the return of the same number of currency notes, which were in circulation when the move to ban ~500 and ~1,000 notes were announced.
Regarding the other items on the wish list, especially black money-prone political funding, the ball is the government’s court. Let’s wait and watch what happens on February 1.
Kumar Gupt Panchkula and above the present threshold of ~10 lakh.
Assuming a delay of three months, if the Budget provides a higher threshold — as envisaged for the GST, along with capping its rate at 18 per cent — wastage of effort may be minimised. Will Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley (pictured) think this through before February 1?
Asit Desai Mumbai Akhilesh Yadav entered active politics around 2000. Rahul Gandhi joined him as member of Parliament in 2004. In 2012, Yadav shifted to state politics, canvassed for his party on a bicycle — the symbol of the Samajwadi Party (SP) — and became the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2004 and 2009, Gandhi campaigned for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in fits and starts. He continued as Parliament member till 2014 despite nudges from the party and then from prime minister Manmohan Singh to be a member of the Cabinet.
One of them embraced responsibility; the other shirked it, content to enjoy authority without accountability. Both of them began their political career under their parents’ tutelage. Yadav was able to establish his identity and a following through his commitment and sincerity while Gandhi depended on the influence and popularity of his mother, Sonia Gandhi. Yadav earned admirers among the public, Gandhi added sycophants to his circle.
Since the defeat of the Congress in 2014, doubts have been raised about Gandhi’s leadership qualities. Yadav showed his stewardship by challenging his mature and popular father and got the better of him.
Today, the Congress, which had earlier vowed to fight the UP Assembly elections alone and declared Sheila Dixit as its chief ministerial candidate, has agreed to be a minor partner to Yadav’s SP. The rise and fall of two young leaders could not have been more revealing.
Y G Chouksey Pune