Editorial     

Published: July 31, 2025
Updated: July 31, 2025

Politicking rules: Economy languishes

At a time when India’s economy should be the primary focus, it is unfortunate that the political class is indulging in whataboutery, especially in the context of major events in the recent past. After the India-Pakistan military conflict in May this year ended in a ceasefire, for which maverick U-S President hogged the credit, there were denials aplenty but little clarity from the Indian government. The latest in this game of mirrors was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking in Parliament on July 30, said ‘no government on earth’ had asked India to go for a ceasefire. Thus, the entire ceasefire issue remains a mystery to the Indian public, and the government seems determined to keep it that way.

Similarly, the authorities have been speaking in disparate voices over the economic situation in the country. A few days ago, BJP president JP Nadda praised the Prime Minister for ‘lifting 25 crore Indians above the poverty line’ during the 11 years of NDA rule. But the Prime Minister himself has stated that his government is feeding 80 crore poor Indians by providing them free food. The question on many lips is: Which of the two top functionaries to believe?

As far as unemployment is concerned, the government has not given a clear picture but has ‘promised’ to create millions of jobs. In fact, it is widely believed that unemployment in India has reached an all-time high. It is common knowledge that in recent years unemployment has been growing on account of the economic slowdown, growing geopolitical tensions, cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence reducing job opportunities, and NRIs (non-resident Indians) losing their jobs in the US after President Trump came to office. According to official data, the unemployment rate in India averaged 18.17 per cent from 2018 till 2025, reaching an all-time high of 23.50 per cent in April 2020.

Growing unemployment, along with unbearable inflationary price pressures, have made the lives of millions of lower middle class and low-income Indians miserable as they find it extremely difficult to make ends meet. Ironically, at a time like this, the government is focused on the ‘macro-statistic’ of India emerging as the fourth largest economy in the world and very soon to be the third largest economy.

Many observers feel the third term of the Modi government may prove deleterious to the Indian economy. Considering that the BJP missed the majority mark on its own in the Lok Sabha, the government’s primary focus is seen as placating ruling NDA allies Chandra Babu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar of Bihar – even if it comes at the cost of economic growth. Little wonder then that parliamentary discussions today are focused on political whataboutery instead of the economy.

In this scenario of smoke and mirrors, the country’s economic performance is hard to assess as the government has not published official data on poverty and unemployment since 2011. This has led analysts to use alternative data sources that are not as reliable as the large and nationally representative consumption and employment surveys of the Indian government’s statistical agency. It is thus quite obvious that in the current political slugfest between the ruling and opposition benches, the economy has been pushed to the backburner.