Despite clear indications from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that attacks on BJP leadership will not be tolerated, Rajya Sabha MP and ‘motor mouth’ Subramanian Swamy has refused to halt his diatribe on Twitter. This time, the member of the saffron party has targeted the PM himself. Swamy on Friday questioned Modi’s promise of ‘Achchhe Din’ which won him the 2014 General elections, and cast aspersions on the current system of GDP calculation of the government.
“If I apply Samuelson-Swamy Theory of Index Numbers to India’s GDP calculation or RBI interests rates, media will scream anti party activity!” Swamy said in a clear dig at the GDP growth data.
Incidentally, India’s new GDP data calculation methodology has already come under criticism from various analysts and economists for not projecting a true picture of economic health and growth.
This comes a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi disapproved of Subramanian Swamy’s attacks on RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and some top finance ministry officials saying they are “inappropriate”.
Calling Rajan “no less patriotic”, he virtually ticked off Swamy saying “if anybody considers himself above the system then it is wrong”.
Just two months after entering the Rajya Sabha, Subramanian Swamy has been attacking his critics and has taken swipes at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s term.
Swamy’s caustic and even derogatory tweets have eroded the support of the top bosses in the ruling dispensation and questions regarding his comments have raised within the RSS.
Earlier this week, PM Modi in an indirect reference to Swamy, slammed the Rajya Sabha MP for his “publicity” seeking behaviour. “Whether it is in my party or not, still I think such things are inappropriate. This fondness for publicity is never going to do any good to the nation. People should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility. If anybody considers himself above the system, it is wrong,” Modi said.
BJP sources say Mr. Swamy, the party’s newest Rajya Sabha member, has been asked to keep a low profile and the message has been privately communicated to him.
Mr. Swamy’s tweet attacks last month were openly directed at Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
