Shiv Sena backs Yashwant Sinha's criticism of Modi govt's policies

Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut backed party mouthpiece Saamna article which supported former finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's comments on the economy, saying that they have been saying the same thing for nearly a year now.

"It is not about today. Since the time of demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST) happened, the Indian economy is suffering and we have been speaking against it," he said.

He added, "Yashwant Sinha has put forward this today but we had been saying this since a long time that it will affect the economic condition and it already has."

Raut also said that the Shiv Sena did not aim to target its ally party and was only speaking the truth.

"We have not targeted the BJP government. It is a crime saying the truth but we are still doing it. Yashwant Sinha or anyone else are saying the truth and we cannot neglect this," he said.

He went on to say that the economic matter of a country cannot be the internal matter of a state and said that a committee needs to be set up to look into this.

Earlier, the Shiv Sena backed former Minister of Finance Yashwant Sinha's criticism of the economy and said that the BJP needs to prove that the claims by Sinha are wrong.

Backing Sinha's backlash at demonetization and the downward spiralling agricultural sector, the editorial in Shiv Sena mouth-piece 'Saamna' said, "Sinha has also focused on the conditions the country faced after demonetization. He has compared it to a situation of adding fuel to fire as the country was already moving in a downward spiral. Many of the government programmes like Make in India have failed. People are continuously losing their jobs. The prices of petrol and diesel are increasing. It was never this bad in the past two decades. Even the agricultural sector is struggling."

Shiv Sena also urged BJP to prove Sinha's comments as false claims, adding that even many BJP leaders know the truth but won't speak up out of fear.