Deeming the Modi-led Union government a ‘Non-performing Alliance’, KT Rama Rao blamed it for landing India’s economy in a ‘deep mess’.
Published Aug 04, 2022 | 10:01 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 05, 2022 | 1:53 PM
Nirmala Sitharaman and KT Rama Rao. (Supplied)
While leaders BJP were patting their backs on Union Finance Minister’s statement on the Indian economy in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, leaders of southern States have been fact-checking Nirmala Sitharaman.
First came Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Dr P Thiaga Rajan’s point-by-point rebuttal to Sitharaman’s claims on the fuel price hike. Now it is the turn of Telangana Minister for Industries, Urban Development and IT KT Rama Rao.
“No amount of spin and sophistry will conceal the Centre’s Govt’s Jhumlanomics,” Rao said in a statement on Thursday, 4 August.
Rao, also the working president of TRS, deemed Sitharaman’s statement a “crude joke” on millions of Indians adversely affected due to the Narendra Modi government’s economic policies.
“Act of God and acts of fraud notwithstanding, the fact is that failed economic policies (such as demonetisation) of Non-Performing Alliance (NPA) government have resulted in disastrous consequences for India,” Rao said, deeming the National Democratic Alliance headed by Modi at the Centre as “NPA”.
The phrase “Act of God” was KTR’s jibe at Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement in 2020 after the 41st GST council meeting when she deemed the Covid-19 pandemic-induced economic distress an ‘act of God’.
The Union finance minister, in her statement to the Lok Sabha earlier this week, insisted that prices of many essential commodities were higher before the GST regime, repeatedly reiterating that India was doing better than other countries in controlling inflation, amid criticism from opposition.
“Some undeniable facts: Indian rupee is slumping to an all-time low against the US dollar. Highest Inflation rate in 30 years. Highest unemployment rate in 45 years is again a result of all-round policy paralysis. India surpasses Nigeria in poverty numbers,” KT Rao said, punching holes in Sitharaman’s claims.
The Telangana minister, who has been engaged in a war of words over central funds to Telangana, held the Modi government’s “lopsided economic policies” responsible for the most unprecedented economic crisis in the country since Independence.
“These are all tell-tale signs of the deep mess that the BJP-led central government has forced our economy into,” Rao added.
At a time the Union government has been rejecting one global survey after another ranking India poorly on multiple fronts — democracy, press freedom, income inequality, corruption, and poverty, KTR pointed to India performing miserably on global developmental indices of all kinds.
“While the Modi government bluffed that ₹3-4 lakh crore of black money would be wiped out, almost 100 percent of the demonetised currency came back to the RBI. The cash in circulation rose from 18 Lakh crore in November 2016 to 31 Lakh crore in March 2022 — an increase of a whopping 68 percent when compared to the pre-demonetisation era. All these are clear indicators that demonetisation was a colossal failure,” Rao contended.
Given that the Telangana government introduced a new insurance scheme — Nethanna Bheema — for weavers earlier this week, Rao pointed to the irony of the Union government levying GST even on handlooms.
