Demonetisation, a political decision, says Sanjaya Baru

JAIPUR: Halfway into its tenure, the BJP government has “nothing but demonetization“ to highlight, which was essentially a political decision aimed at casting Narendra Modi as an anti-corruption crusader, author and commentator Sanjaya Baru said on Friday.
Baru, who was the media advisor to former PM Manmohan Singh, was speaking at a session at the ongoing JLF.
“The decision of demonetisation was a political decision and not an economic one through which PM Modi established himself as a powerful anti-corruption crusader.
“The mistake Modi made was to seek a time of 10 years from people. Half of his tenure is over. He wasted the initial time and the government has nothing but the decision of demonetisation to highlight,“ he said.
Baru said although Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejri wal had cast himself as the country's foremost anti-corruption crusader in recent times, through note ban, Modi has somewhat weakened the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief 's position. He was in conversation with writer Vinay Sitapati, who authored the biography of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.
Talking about reforms made by Rao, Sitapati said the former PM would not have taken the step of demonetisation and instead would have worked in phases to improve the economy. Both the writers highlighted Rao's role in the economic transformation of the country during his regime.