Rahul Gandhi's searing edit in FT: Rise of 'elected autocrats' like Narendra Modi due to China's dominance in jobs

On demonetisation anniversary day, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has written an analysis of the global and Indian economic situation in The Financial Times. The article is also a searing criticism of the note ban and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political and economic policies. “The prime minister claimed his decision was aimed at wiping out corruption. Twelve months on the only thing he has wiped out is confidence in our once booming economy,” he has said in the article. [caption id=“attachment_4199027” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Asserting that the step has wiped out 2 percent of the country’s GDP, destroyed the informal labour sector and destroyed many SMEs, Gandhi said: “It has ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians.” He has also criticised the hasty implementation of goods and services tax (GST), terming the tax reform as bureaucratic and complex. “It has devastated livelihoods, creating a modern day “Licence Raj””, Gandhi has said in the FT article. Gandhi’s analysis doesn’t just deal with India but the global situation and China’s dominance. According to him, the reasons for the rise of “elected autocrats, such as Mr Modi” are two: the increased internet connectivity that is increasing transparency and destroying the institutions that were information silos and the dominance of China in the global job market. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s analysis of demonetisation impact also points to the benefits that China got due to the move. According to Singh, demonetisation killed the small and medium businesses in India and the country had to increase imports from China to meet domestic demand. This has created more jobs in China while India saw a sharp decrease in job creation. Gandhi is taking off from this analysis to arrive at the biggest problem India is facing today. According to him, the challenge India and other democracies face today is to compete with China and at the same time maintain liberal values. However, Modi is fanning communal hatred cashing in on the anger created by joblessness and lack of economic opportunity, Gandhi said. “Anger might have brought Mr Modi to power but it will never create jobs or fix India’s institutions,” he concludes.