Man on the street is wiser

With reference to the report, “Demonetisation monumental blunder, GST hastily implemented: Manmohan Singh” (November 8), the claims and counterclaims on the two phenomena in the headline have become louder now, as Assembly elections are due in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah. As it is a do-or-die situation for the Congress (read its vice-president Rahul Gandhi), the party has fielded before the media the earlier sidelined, reticent economist and former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Demonetisation and the goods and services tax have been the most essential operations to boost the economy. No prime minister, even with an overwhelming majority in Parliament and state Assemblies, dared to implement what Modi has. Considering the amount of work, the large geographical spread, secrecy, an administration rife with corruption and a long gestation period, the BJP government has done a commendable job, something that has been acknowledged by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other economists. There are credible indications that these strong measures have started yielding results.

The Congress ruled India for over 60 years and Singh should know this that it failed to adopt a constructive approach in opposing the note ban and GST. After repeated electoral losses in state Assemblies and local bodies, the Opposition party has decided to project note ban and GST as the main issues replacing the earlier Godhra riots issue.

Just like in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 Gujarat polls, Modi will have the last laugh this time. The man on the street is wiser now.

N Ramamurthy Chennai