Pranab Mukherjee will go down in history as presenting India’s worst ever budget. Even worse than Morarjee Desai who must have held the dubious distinction earlier by common consensus.
He lost the case against Vodafone in the Supreme Court because of poorly drafted laws (according to the SC). And what does he do? Make a draconian draft with retrospective effect of FIFTY years! That’s HALF century.
Not just does this make him an anti-liberal, it confirms him as despotic and myopic.
If Vodafone went scot free because of a badly drafted law, then who’s fault is it?!
Then to “correct” it with a retrospective application in itself shows not only poor governance but also personal pique at a time when he’s ostensibly trying to attract foreign investment!
This is nothing but pure despotism. “I am right, even when I am wrong!”. That’s what Pranab Mukherjee will be remembered for.
I’ve all along maintained that Narasimha Rao (the late, former PM) was the real author of the liberalisation story and Manmohan Singh was just the stenographer. But since the Gandhis have a distaste for all non-Gandhi PMs, and Manmohan was pliable enough to keep the seat warm for Rahul, Manmohan was “credited” by the Congress party.
But the last few YEARS show by a string of events that Manmohan has neither the guts nor the imagination to conceive let alone implement far reaching reform. Now, with this 50 year retrospective law, Manmohan and Pranab have nailed the coffin on that “liberal” reputation.
Without going into the details of an accountant’s work, this budget is the worst I have followed in my 6 decades on this planet. The worst. Ever.