Narendra Modi's sensational disclosure: The 'Budget truth' that could have collapsed economy
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power he noticed that the figures in the 2014 Budget presented by the UPA government were suspicious. He did not reveal the correct picture because that would have hit the already vulnerable Indian economy. That's what PM Modi has claimed in a recent interview to Swarajya magazine.
"We all knew that the economy was in the doldrums but since we were not in government, we naturally did not have the complete details of the state of the economy. But, what we saw when we formed the government left us shocked! The state of the economy was much worse than expected. Things were terrible. Even the budget figures were suspicious," Modi said in the interview.
Modi said the actual condition of the Indian economy was "unbelievable". If he disclosed the actual extent of damage, it had the potential to cause a crisis. "When all of this came to light, we had two options – to be driven by Rajneeti (political considerations) or be guided by Rashtraneeti (putting the interests of India First)," Modi said.
"Rajneeti, or playing politics on the state of the economy in 2014, would have been extremely simple as well as politically advantageous for us. We had just won a historic election, so obviously the frenzy was at a different level. The Congress Party and their allies were in big trouble. Even for the media, it would have made news for months on end. On the other hand, there was Rashtraneeti, where more than politics and one-upmanship, reform was needed. Needless to say, we preferred to think of ‘India First’ instead of putting politics first. We did not want to push the issues under the carpet, but we were more interested in addressing the issue. We focused on reforming, strengthening and transforming the Indian economy," Modi said.
It was to save the Indian economy from a reputational crisis that his government also did not publish a white paper on the state of the economy left by the previous UPA government, Modi said.
"In 2014, industry was leaving India. India was in the Fragile Five. Experts believed that the ‘I’ in BRICS would collapse. Public sentiment was that of disappointment and pessimism. Now, in the midst of this, imagine a White Paper coming out giving intricate details of the extent of damage. Instead of being a mollifier, it would be a multiplier of the distress," Modi said.