Yashwant Sinha's words can't be portrayed as personal angst against govt.: Congress

Supporting and hailing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Yashwant Sinha, the Congress has said that what he is saying in his article can't be poured down as his personal ambition or angst against this government.

"What Yashwant Sinha is saying can't be just poured down as his personal ambition or angst against this government, as he himself has been the Finance Minister of this very party," Congress senior leader Salman Khurshid told ANI.

He further asserted that the government has been portraying a "fairy tale"-like image of the Indian economy for a long time.

"These are difficult times in the country as far as the economy is concerned and now the evidence has come tumbling out, that not only is it a bad time for the country, but it's made worse by the very short-sighted decisions that the Government has taken," Khurshid said, while criticising the government.

The Congress leader also said that if the government has any sense then it will take this very seriously, and will try to get things back on track.

Another Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that Sinha had talked about the same issue earlier, but in a subtle way.

"It's not just him; everybody has been saying the same thing. Prime Minister's note ban has been the biggest economic failure; his policies have failed and whatever hard work the party wanted to do is not visible," Dikshit told ANI.

He further stated that the present government has done nothing except give slogans.

"A speech is not enough for the functioning of the government, you have to put in your brains, patience and knowledge, which is clearly lacking in this government," he declared.

Dikshit further asserted that what Yashwant Sinha has said is something "every Indian citizen in every corner of the nation has been saying."

Sinha, a former finance minister, hogged the limelight and started trending high on social media this morning, after he criticised his own government for sinking the economy, in an article he penned for a leading daily.

In the article, titled 'I need to speak up now', Sinha said that demonetisation proved to be an "unmitigated economic disaster" and that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a "badly conceived and poorly implemented" havoc.

He introduced the strongly-worded article, saying, "I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister has made of the economy."

Sinha further said that the economy is on a downward spiral and many in the BJP do not dare to speak up against it out of fear, adding, "Arun Jaitley is considered to be the best and the brightest in this government. It was a foregone conclusion before the 2014 elections that he would be the finance minister in the new government."

Sinha further took on BJP president Amit Shah for citing 'technical' reasons for slowdown in the GDP rate and wrote, "Even the SBI, the largest public sector bank of the country, has stated with unusual frankness that the slowdown is not transient or "technical", it is here to stay and the slowdown in demand has only aggravated the situation. It has openly contradicted what the BJP president said just a few days ago that the slowdown in the last quarter was on account of "technical" reasons and will be corrected soon."

In his article, Sinha also took a jibe at the raids conducted by Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation and said that it has become "a new game to instill fear in the minds of people," adding, "we protested against raid raj when we were in opposition. Today it has become the order of the day."

He also ridiculed the "massive" loan waivers given to the farmers "varying from one paise to a few rupees."

Sinha concluded his article by saying, "The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters. His finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters.