This could be the last free elections in India: Parakala Prabhakar

In a talk-cum-press conference in Bengaluru, Prabhakar drew a bleak picture of what to expect if the current BJP dispensation is voted back to power for another term.

“I must share my apprehensions, if voters are not careful in this election, we will not have another free and fair election in this country. What is happening in Manipur can also happen in other states in India. Don't think it will not come knocking at your door too. Economic misery will increase and there will be large-scale destruction of equality,” said the well-known economist and author of ‘The Crooked Timber of New India’.

The current regime needs to be "punished" and made accountable for their large-scale destruction of equality, centre-state relations and for stamping on the secular fabric of the nation. If they are not made accountable in this election, it opens the doors for more of this to happen, said the soft-spoken Prabhakar.

'Suspect' government data

Giving a entirely opposite picture of what the ruling dispensation is projecting about the Indian economy, Prabhakar remarked that 'India is facing a very serious issue of hunger, inequality and crony capitalism' .

Pointing out that he has no faith in government data describing it as “suspect” and “manipulated”, Prabhakar said he uses a simple dictum to understand if the economy is doing well. To him, comparing the rising prices of food items like dals and sugar from five months ago to current rates are enough proof. In India, household savings are at a historic low of 5 per cent, and household debts at a historic high of 40 per cent.

Yet, we are told we are the fastest growing economy in the world, he said taking a dig at the BJP government.

“If we have indeed overtaken a developed country like UK then why does PM Modi go around promising that by 2047, India will become a developed country. Are we not a developed country already?” he asked.

Domestic investments are its lowest

Furthermore, Prabhakar reels off figures to show that India is not in an economically vibrant situation as projected by the ruling dispensation. “Nearly 1.5 lakh people every year without fail leave India for good relinquishing their passports,” he said, adding that this lot are also high net worth individuals.

Domestic investments in India are at its lowest and has dropped from 30 per cent to 19 per cent, he added.

Industrialists are not willing to invest since they do not have confidence in the economy and in the future prospects of the country, Prabhakar said. Though the government is doing its utmost best to attract investments by reducing corporate tax, writing of corporate debts to the tune of ₹26 lakh crore and introducing schemes like Productivity Linked Investments, these 'wealth creators' are not investing and creating jobs.

Though Modi had promised to provide 2 crore jobs, India has the highest youth unemployment rate at 24 per cent on par with countries like Iran, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon, while neighbouring Bangladesh is at 12 per cent. According to the ILO report, out of the total unemployed in India, 65 per cent are educated.

Electoral bonds

Prodded by the organisers to give his view on the controversial electoral bonds scheme, Prabhakar said that it is the 'biggest scam' in India. “How many 1,000s of crores have the government lost by getting 100s of crores in bonds? What is the kind of money laundering that could have happened under this scheme?" he asked. And Prabhakar went on to ask what PM Modi meant when he told in an interview that those people who opposed the electoral bonds will 'regret it'. "Did he think the Supreme Court and the judges will regret what they did?" he questioned.

Inequality issue

Prabhakar who slammed the BJP-led central government for not showing any empathy for the poor and the unemployed, pointed out that the present government completely brushed aside inequality in the country. Quoting figures from the World Inequality Report, he said that it had showed that 1 per cent of our population corners 22 per cent of our income and owns more than 40 per cent of the assets.

“There is very serious inequality in the country,” observed Prabhakar. However, responding to that report, Arvind Panagriya, the chairman of the finance commission wrote an article titled, 'Don’t lose sleep over inequality'. He also mocked the way the civil aviation ministry and the Indian airforce was deployed to charter guests for a pre-wedding function in a small town referring to the Mukesh Ambani bash in Jamnagar.

'Mocking poverty'

A certain "minister" also mocked India's low rating in the World Hunger Index, he said, pointing out how the BJP government trivialise poverty and hunger.

On asked whether Tesla chief Elon Musk coming to India in the middle of election season is flouting the model code of conduct, Prabhakar said that the manner in which Election Commissioner is selected cannot foster an impartial institution. "There is so much of hate speech and religious talk going on which is not being pulled up by the ECI. The Elon Musk matter is small in comparison," he answered.

Meanwhile, on the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines, Salil Shetty, former head of Amnesty International said at the talk organised by a forum called the Samvidhanada Hadiyalli that there is suspicion that it is being tampered with but currently they do not have any proof.