Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the government’s policies after her husband, Economist, Parakala Prabhakar criticized the BJP government’s economic policies which have led to the slowdown.

“Please keep one thing in mind. If we talk about deep reforms, then between 2014 and 2019, so many fundamental reforms have happened under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Did GST and IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016) happen during the Congress rule?,” Sitharaman told reporters when asked about her husband’s remark at a press conference.

The row started between the couple when Prabhakar, in an article written for The Hindu, suggested that the BJP should adopt the Rao-Singh economic model, which paved the way for liberalisation of the economy, instead of “critiquing the Nehruvian socialism”.

“There is anxiety all over about the economic slowdown in the country,” Prabhakar wrote. “While the government is still in denial mode, data flowing uninterruptedly into the public domain show that sector after sector is staring at a seriously challenging situation.”

Prabhakar, who was earlier a communication adviser to the Andhra Pradesh government, said the Centre is yet to figure out a solution for what “ails the economy”, and claimed “less evidence” is available to even believe that it has a “strategic vision” to address the problems. Prabhakar pointed out India’s GDP growth rate has descended to a six-year low of 5% in the April-June quarter and unemployment was at a 45-year high.

Calling out the Centre’s policy measures, Parakala Prabhakar blamed BJP’s inexplicable reluctance” as the reason behind the issue of economic slowdown and declining growth rate.

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