Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest comments made in the course of an interview betray his true beliefs with regards to the twin disasters of Demonetisation and GST.

His exact words were, “Don’t evaluate me only on demonetisation and GST, we brought economic reform, built toilets, brought electricity to 18,000 villages." The PM and indeed the BJP have so far maintained that both Demonetisation and GST were raging successes, despite all evidence to the contrary. The GDP fell by 2% as a direct impact of Demonetisation, as predicted by former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh. Traders, small businesses, exporters faced numerous hurdles due to the extremely sloppy implementation of GST.

Yet, in terms of public posturing, this is the first time the PM has given away his actual apprehensions about the crumbling public perception of his government due to the twin disasters of Demonetisation and GST. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has made sure that the government was never let off the hook. The nation saw the results of this in Gujarat recently, where the BJP managed to barely scrape through, despite the PM and his entire cabinet's relocation to the state before the polls.

The anger in the people is simmering and this is why the PM would like to distract them from the twin nightmares.

Hence, the hesitation in the PM's voice and his selection of words warrant special attention. His inability to club Demonetisation and GST under the umbrella of "economic reform" means that he doesn’t consider them in the same league. Neither do the people of this nation. In his mind, they are actually two different things. Therefore, Mr. Modi is trying to deflect attention from his failures.

Economy in trouble

The Modi government has bungled the economy and caused a job crisis. The informal sector is still telling under the effects of the twin torpedoes. Further, over 40,000 telecom workers were laid off in 2017 alone, and it is expected another 50,000 will lose their livelihoods too in the coming year. The GDP is also expected to grow at a 4-year low of 6.5%. India’s fiscal deficit has also breached the target set. Retail inflation is at a 17-month high of 5.21%. India’s Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) are also amongst the worst in the world. India ranks 5th worst in the world among major economies in this regard.

What are the "economic reforms" the PM is referring to? The people would like to know.