Bad economy is now bad politics too

Indian economy continues to struggle under the Congress led UPA regime. The latest numbers related to industrial production clearly indicate that the country would continue to bear the brunt of the inefficiency and apathy of the Congress led UPA government at the Centre.

The latest data shows a decline in industrial production index for October 2013 by around 1.8% and what makes this worse is the fact that the pace of growth in the export oriented sectors further slowed down in 2013.

Another worrying aspect of the latest figures is the continuous dismal performance of the Consumer durable sector which registered a substantial decline of 12 per cent. What should cause us more worry is that even non-consumer durables have declined by 1.8 per cent. Let me remind the readers hare that the consumer durable sector growth has registered a decline for the ninth straight month.

Another cause of worry is the consumer price index has registered a jump of 11.24% for the month of November 2013. In days to come we might see some correction in Wholesale Price Index numbers and the UPA government might try to take credit for that but the reality is that common people get affected by the consumer price index and it continues to hover in double digit.

I guess it is high time that tackling inflation should become the top priority of our policy makers especially after the poll drubbing in four major states of India. Inflation is one of the key issues which has made people vote against Congress party.

It is interesting to note that the argument given more than often by the UPA leaders including the Prime Minister put the blame of all our troubles on the Global economic situation. Though the fact is that India has one of the highest inflation rates when one compares it with the inflation rate in most other developed and developing countries.

We need to dispel the false notions propagated by this government which is being led by an economist and which claims to have a number of economists. Our fiscal and monetary polices have failed to revive the Indian economy over the last few years. When the NDA handed over the power to Congress led UPA in 2004, the growth rate was 8.4%. Today we are struggling to stick to even 5% growth rate. A robust economic story has been ruined by the UPA and that is what is making common people more angry.

In fact, many economists are now worried that India is steadily sinking into a “stagflation” zone where high inflation is accompanied by high unemployment also. And it is clear now that bad economics make bad politics also. So UPA should get ready for yet another drubbing given the “no-hope” situation created by its government for Indian economy.

Why UPA should be blamed for the record devaluation of rupee

Even as the rupee continues to plummet, the UPA government doesn’t seem to be making any effort to get out of the slumber. The fall of rupee is a direct outcome of the “Policy Paralysis” of this government at the Centre. 

The UPA government has almost brutally killed the “India Story” which was built painstakingly by the NDA government. The most unfortunate part is that the UPA government is not ready to even diagnose the cause of problems plaguing the economy.

A look at the responses from UPA on the ongoing currency crisis show that this government is not ready to accept even the reality. The representatives of UPA government and spokespersons of Congress have been offering a single excuse that as the world economy is in a mess, so are we! But that is not correct. The UPA government is misleading the common people of this country.

Let us look at some of the recent data and figures that expose the cover-up attempts of UPA government that hinges on their argument that almost all currencies are falling against the US dollar and India is no exception when it comes to this tragic slide of the rupee.

According to Market Watch of the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen earlier this week. Both these currencies continue to trade strongly against the US dollar. Similar is the situation of British Pound. We must remember that Europe and Japan both are suffering from major economic slowdown. But their currencies remain strong against US dollars unlike Indian currency.

It is shocking to realise that India is performing worst than almost all its neighbours in currency market except Pakistan. The Chinese, Bangladesh, Sri Lankan and several other currencies are doing pretty fine, as compared to Indian rupee. The Chinese renminbi is holding steadfast against the dollar for the last six months. The Bangladesh taka has, in fact, appreciated by four per cent and trades at 77.68 to a dollar compared to 81.50 last year. Indian rupee has seen the level of 65.56 against a dollar. It has lead to calling the Indian rupee as “Asia’s worst performing major currency” this year.

Since January 2012, the Indian currency’s value has fallen by almost 40%. This is a staggering number and is leading to a further stampede of the foreign investors. This government has lost confidence of investors and the plight is being borne by the whole country.

Most of the experts agree that the current situation is the direct outcome of the burgeoning Current Account Deficit since 2004-2005. On August 12 this year, the Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram announced “measures” to reduce the CAD and arrest the rupee slide. But, within 36 hours, on August 14, the rupee fell further, to Rs 61.50 per dollar). The slide has continued unabated since then with every day new records being set for the worst performance of Indian currency.

Naxal attack in Chattisgarh: National issues should not be politicised

The dastardly attack by Naxals in Chattisgarh on Saturday is deplorable. In a democracy, unlike Naxals which believe in the Maoist dictum “Power comes from the barrel of gun”, the society at large does not believe in this anarchic theory. 

However the fact remains that Naxalism poses a serious challenge to our internal security. Cutting across various states -Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc.-this menace has spread. 

Of late the security forces have been able to give some deadly blows to Naxals witha significant section of their top leadership being either killed or captured. This is a long fight and all political parties must come together to fight it. I am emphasising this fact because it is unfortunate that a section of Congress leaders, in the past 24 hours, have tried to shift the blame of this incident on BJP government in Chattisgarh giving it a political colour. 

These incidents have happened in Congress and other non-BJP ruled states also. But BJP and most of the other political parties have also largely never given these incidents a political colour. I think it will be unfortunate if yesterday’s incident is looked at from a political perspective by any of the Congress leaders. 

We must remember that security forces have been fighting a long-drawn battle with Naxals in several parts of the country. The politicisation of such issues will be a great blow to their moral also. The BJP could have made a big issue of Mumbai terrorist attacks(26/11) which shook the whole nation. But there is a clear understanding in the BJP that issues of national security must not be allowed to get caught in the political web at any cost as this is detrimental to the interest of the country in the long run. In this time of grief, better sense should prevail, the country needs a steely, united resolve to fight this menace which is not a localised problem but a national problem. Let us not make this a petty political issue and trivialise it.