Best of BS Opinion: India's 200 mn 'aliens', alliance thrown off the scent

Here are the top BS Opinion articles of the day

A little noticed data point in the latest macro-economic numbers is that private consumption has slipped below 2017-18 levels, when demonetisation and the disruptive introduction of GST had taken a toll. Taken together with large-scale unemployment and reverse migration caused by the nationwide lockdown, it is clear that the overall consumption story has not only stagnated for four years but likely declined at lower income levels. This shrinking demand will have its impact on economic performance too, and reversing this trend is what the government should be working on, says T N Ninan. Read it here

In other views:

Aditi Phadnis points out that by dissolving the 10-party “mahajot” in Assam, the Congress has scored an own goal by splitting the Muslim vote. Read it here

Shekhar Gupta argues that India cannot afford to alienate Indian Muslims, whom the BJP has edged out of power structures, just as the Taliban are finding global legitimacy. Read it here

Sandeep Goyal muses on the future of writing in light of the recent publication of the first Korean novel written by Artificial Intelligence. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“All that has been built over the last 70 years is being pawned off into the hands of a select few”

 

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the asset monetisation pipeline