The BJP’s most vocal, and dare one say, fearless, leader Shatrughan Sinha has done it again. A tweet on prime minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation policy by Mr Sinha had to be deleted after an uproar among party lines.
But the unvanquished warrior of politics remains unapologetic.
I stand by what I said. I had to delete the tweet as it was being construed as a criticism of our beloved much revered Prime Minister , the super-hero Narendra Modiji. How many times have I said this? And I say it again. Criticising a party decision – and that’s what I am doing again – is not a criticism of the Prime Minister. I maintain the demonetisation policy was well-intended, but very badly executed. It seems like a decision implemented in josh (haste) rather than hosh (deliberation).
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Mr Sinha’s heart bleeds for the hardships demonetisation has caused the common man.
Forget black money, the working class is being denied access to his hard-earned money. You are saying you will get only Rs 2.5 lakh to conduct a wedding. What can be done with that measly amount of money? Even a decent amount for the baraati costs more. This is not right.
He further added:
It is easy to say the common man is willing to suffer for the sake of the larger good. But where is larger good? As a very learned economist has opined, the Rs 2,000 note may solve the problem of space crunch. But would it quell the financial crunch? People are making jokes about the pink colour of the Rs 2,000 note coming off during Holi in their pockets, thereby sparing them the cost of buying colour. But I don’t think this is a joking matter. Today, it’s the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination that’s being discontinued. What if tomorrow the new Rs 2,000 and the new Rs 500 notes are demonetised?
Mr Sinha doesn’t deny the fact that we’re staring at a crisis.
The scariest part of this hastily implemented decision is that people have lost faith in the government and in the banking service. Today, for the first time in a very long time, the opposition is united, thanks to demonetisation. And for once, what they are saying makes sense. Our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has been let down by his learned advisors. They have allowed him to act in haste. Now there are attempts to roll back the decision. A case of too little too late.
But according to Mr Sinha, all is not lost.
Modi ji should immediately form a high-powered committee of BJP stalwarts like LK Advani ji, Murli Manohar ji, Subramanian Swamy ji, Arun Shourie ji… The committee should include a top-notch lawyer. It’s time to look at demonetisation calmly and sensibly. If errors of judgement have been made, there should be no shame in admitting these. I maintain that the Prime Minister’s decision of demonetisation was well-intended. Its implementation left much to be desired. Correct the wrong done immediately. The junta will love the government for admitting its mistake.