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Demonetisation a “disastrous policy”, bullet train an “exercise in vanity: Manmohan Singh

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Dr-Manmohan-Singh

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Day before the first anniversary of demonetisation, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh goes all out to trash successor Narendra Modi’s economic reform agenda

A day before a unified Opposition marks the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation as a ‘black day’, former prime minister and Congress veteran Dr Manmohan Singh hit out at the Centre over its economic reforms agenda, lashing out at his successor over the issues of noteban, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and even the bullet train.

Addressing traders and businessmen in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the ‘economist’ former prime minister trashed Modi’s demonetisation initiative as a “disaster” and a “reckless step on our nation” that was taken by his successor only to “reap political benefits”. Dr Singh reiterated that demonetisation was “an organised loot and legalized plunder”.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]However, it wasn’t just demonetisation that Dr Singh, who is credited with ushering in economic reforms in India during his stint as finance minister under the PV Narsimha Rao-led Congress government and then setting off the country on a high growth trajectory during his own stint as prime minister, attacked the Modi government over.

In a strongly worded and uncharacteristically curt address, the mild-mannered Congress leader also brought the Modi government GST rollout and the Prime Minister’s ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in his line of fire.

The former prime minister’s combative critique of the Modi government’s economic policy and reforms agenda forced Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to defer his media briefing that was scheduled for 12.30 pm on Tuesday – the same time when Dr Singh’s address began in Ahmedabad – to 3.30 pm. And when Jaitley finally got his chance under the sun, his briefing was reduced to a firefighting exercise; one in which he spent a better part of his time defending the demonetisation move against Dr Singh’s strident attack.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Calling demonetisation and GST as “twin blows” on the Indian economy, Dr Singh said that the two initiatives of the Modi government only ended up helping China while they wreaked havoc in the lives of Indian citizens. “Due largely to demonetisation and GST, India’s imports from China in the first half of 2017-18 increased by 23 per cent or Rs. 45,000 crore, from Rs.1.96 lakh crore to Rs. 2.41 lakh crore,” Dr Singh said, adding: “these twin blows damaged India’s MSME sector and our businesses had to turn to Chinese imports at the cost of Indian jobs.”

The former prime minister added: “with immense pain and a sense of deep responsibility I declare that the 8th of November was a ‘black day’ for our economy and indeed our democracy. I remember feeling shocked when I heard the Prime Minister’s announcement (of demonetisation) and I wondered who advised him to inflict such a reckless step on our nation, and whether any considered thought went into it.”

Asserting that no democracy in the world had taken such a “coercive” move – of withdrawing 86 per cent of legal tenders in one single swoop – Dr Singh said the decline in the GDP growth rate to 5.7 per cent was largely due to demonetisation even as he suggested that GDP figures too were a “gross underestimate as the pain of the informal sector is not adequately captures in GDP calculation”.

“Every one per cent loss of GDP annually costs our nation Rs. 1.5 lakh crore. Think of the human impact from this lost growth — the lost jobs, the youth whose opportunities have vanished, the businesses which had to shut down and the entrepreneurs whose drive to succeed has turned into discouraged disappointment,” Dr Singh said.

The former Prime Minister went on to add that “what is even more tragic is that none of the lessons from this monumental blunder (of demonetisation) have been learnt by the government, which, instead of providing relief to the needy, chose to inflict on them a badly designed and hastily implemented GST,” Dr Singh said, adding that the “twin blows of demonetisation and GST have been a complete disaster for the Indian economy.”

Dr Singh also claimed that the aftermath of GST rollout and noteban had spread a sort of “tax terrorism” in India.

“At a time when the economy has slowed down considerably, despite favourable global economic conditions, the fear of tax terrorism has eroded the confidence of businesses to invest. As you know, the growth in private investment is at a 25-year low. This is terrible for India’s economy,” Dr Singh said.

“Did the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) stop to consider the wisdom of the Mahatma while asking the RBI Governor to sign on the dotted line or while implementing the GST in haste? Did he think about the impact on those who toil in the informal sector whose earnings dried up because of shortage of cash? Did he think about the millions of people who lost jobs and had to return to their villages in despair? If the Prime Minister had paid attention to the Mahatma’s talisman, the poor of India would not have suffered the way they did,” Dr Singh added.

The Congress leader also hit out at Modi over the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project calling it “an exercise in vanity” and wondering if the Prime Minister had considered the alternative of “a high speed train by upgrading broad gauge railway?”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Man attempting to cross India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan shot dead by BSF personnel

“We are investigating the case under these acts,” he added.

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Border Security Force (BSF) personnel shot and killed an individual attempting to cross the India-Pakistan border in the Ganganagar district of Rajasthan late on Tuesday, according to police.

Jitendra Kumar, the station house officer at Kesrisinghpur police station, stated that the man was trying to breach the barbed wire fence when he was spotted by BSF personnel. “They advised him to leave the area, but when he continued to advance, the BSF personnel shot him,” said the SHO.

Sriganganagar Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav confirmed that the suspect was allegedly trying to enter Indian territory around midnight on December 24, 2024. Despite warnings from the BSF soldiers, he did not heed their calls, which resulted in the shooting.

The incident occurred near a village in the Kesarisinghpur area. Items recovered from the intruder included Pakistani currency notes, a cigarette packet, an identity card, and other belongings. Authorities are currently gathering more information about him.

Ongoing discussions are taking place between the armed forces and police officers regarding the incident. An FIR has been filed that includes charges of trespassing and violations of the Passports Act and the Foreigners Act, according to Kumar. “We are investigating the case under these acts,” he added.

This incident is one of several similar occurrences along the border. In August, the BSF apprehended an intruder named Jagsi Kohli, who had entered about 15 kilometers into Indian territory in Barmer after locals alerted authorities that he was asking for directions to Tharparkar, a district in Pakistan’s Sindh province.

In March of this year, another person attempting to cross the border in Ganganagar was shot by BSF personnel. There have been additional incidents reported in October 2022 and twice in March 2021, all resulting in fatalities among the intruders.

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Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Chandrababu Naidu among leaders at NDA meet in Delhi amid Ambedkar row

The alliance had decided to convene on the birthday of the late BJP leader, noted for successfully leading the first coalition government to complete its term.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief J.P. Nadda and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu among leaders of the NDA met in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss different issues including Shah’s comment on BR Ambedkar days ago in Rajya Sabha.

In attendance, apart from Shah, Nadda and Naidu, JD-U leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Apna Dal (S) president and Union minister Anupriya Patel, as well as JD (S) leader and Union minister H.D. Kumaraswamy were present.

Also present were Jitan Ram Manjhi, leader of Bihar’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (S) and a minister in the Modi government, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha, a Rajya Sabha MP, and Thushar Vellappally, president of Bharath Dharma Jana Sena.

While the specific agenda of the meeting was not officially disclosed, sources indicated that discussions revolved around good governance and various political issues—principles that were central to Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister. The alliance had decided to convene on the birthday of the late BJP leader, noted for successfully leading the first coalition government to complete its term.

Following the meeting, Nadda shared on X, “Attended the NDA leaders’ meeting in New Delhi today. Under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India is achieving unprecedented milestones and has positioned itself as a global superpower. The NDA government remains committed to realizing the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, ensuring a brighter and more prosperous future for all.”

Sanjay Nishad, chief of the NISHAD Party in Uttar Pradesh, described the meeting as “informal” and focused on Vajpayee’s legacy. He emphasised the importance of unity among all alliance members heading into future elections, mentioning that they congratulated the BJP leaders for their electoral victories in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Nishad further outlined that the meeting addressed coalition strategies to ensure that Prime Minister Modi’s initiatives effectively reach the populace and that electoral promises are fulfilled. He raised the topic of providing reservations for the fishing community, stating, “I presented evidence on this issue, as it was a poll promise. They will follow up with us next week to discuss it.”

Responding to inquiries about whether Amit Shah’s controversial remarks on Ambedkar were discussed, Nishad said, “We are here for the welfare of the people. Our energy should focus on achieving success in that area, rather than engaging with negativity from opposition parties.”

The NDA meeting underscores the alliance’s commitment to the proposed simultaneous elections, with all members backing the initiative. A Joint Committee of Parliament, established to review two bills related to simultaneous polls, is set to convene on January 8.

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Manipur CM Biren Singh says state needs immediate peace, understanding between two communities

He claimed that the administration is responding quickly to the displaced people’s needs in areas such as education and agriculture.

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Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday emphasised the urgent need for peace in the state, which has faced ethnic violence since May of last year, and called on two communities to reach a mutual understanding.

Speaking at the Good Governance Day event held at the state BJP headquarters, Singh expressed confidence that the BJP could restore stability to the northeastern state, highlighting the party’s commitment to coexisting harmoniously.

“What is happening in Manipur today has multiple causes. Those who seek to divide the state are now questioning the government’s actions… they are driven by a desire for power,” Singh remarked.

He mentioned several initiatives, such as ‘Meeyamgi Numit’ (People’s Day), designed to foster closer relationships between officials and the public. “We do not oppose any specific community. The BJP’s position is clear: we advocate for the idea of living together and have initiated efforts to strengthen ties between the police and the community,” he stated.

Singh added that the state government is diligently addressing the needs of internally displaced persons by establishing committees throughout the administrative framework. He claimed that the administration is responding quickly to the displaced people’s needs in areas such as education and agriculture.

“We have not made any mistakes. Our goal is to ensure the well-being of future generations. It is essential for both communities to remain calm. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should concentrate on the upcoming NRC process, capturing biometrics, and using 1961 as the foundation year for the Inner Line Permit,” Singh said.

He also highlighted the government’s commitment to acting within a democratic and constitutional framework, noting that achieving these goals will take time. “What we require now is immediate peace and a resolution of misunderstandings between the two communities,” he concluded.

The ongoing violence has resulted in the deaths of over 250 individuals and left thousands homeless due to clashes between the Meitei community and Kuki-Zo groups since last May.

“Only the BJP can save Manipur. BJP leaders possess strong values of nationalism and social justice, practicing reality-based politics in the nation’s interest. If I am not nominated for a ticket by the BJP, I will remain loyal to the party,” Mr. Singh added.

He also highlighted several unity-focused projects initiated by the BJP government, mentioning that a Unity Mall featuring stalls from all ethnic groups in the state will be constructed with an investment exceeding ₹140 crores.

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