Modi Has 6 Months Of Political Capital To Fix Economy, Says Subramanian Swamy   

Every indicator by the government’s own statistics is negative and macros have gone into a tailspin, heading for a crash, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said, criticising the party for the lack of “new economic policy” to get to the $5-trillion economy mark.

This comes after India’s gross domestic product fell to 5 percent in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal.

The government lacks a comprehensive statement of economic policy, Swamy told BloombergQuint in an interview. “Bank consolidation is not a policy,” he said.

While the BJP won a huge mandate only because of its policies on the non-economic front, Swamy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political capital will remain intact only for a year and that he needs to devote his attention to the economy now. “Unemployment is growing, agriculture is in bad shape. If the economy is not rectified, Modi has about six more months till people start challenging him.”

On the party’s poll agenda for the next election, Swamy said “recovering Pakistan occupied Kashmir” could be the only issue left but if people continue to lose jobs, economy will take centre stage. “Whatever we could do without worrying about the economy is almost over. Ram Mandir issue will be resolved soon as the apex court will give a decision. Article 370 has already been quashed. The only thing left to do is to recover Kashmir. That’s the major emotive action for the next election.”

Watch the full discussion here: