NEW DELHI: A day after launching an attack on the Karnataka Congress government over its decision to allocate 4% reservation to Muslim contractors in government projects, the BJP on Sunday hit out at the Congress government in Telangana over its decision to engage French economist Thomas Piketty to analyse the state’s recent caste survey.
BJP IT-cell chief Amit Malviya was quick to criticise the Congress-led Telangana government, questioning the wisdom of enlisting a foreign economist to handle such sensitive demographic data.
“The Congress-led Telangana government has enlisted French economist Thomas Piketty to analyse and interpret data from the recent caste survey in the state. Is it wise to entrust sensitive demographic data to a foreigner?” Malviya asked in a post, questioning, “Were there no qualified Indian experts capable of handling this task? What explains this eagerness to expose our social fabric to external influences, allowing outsiders to dissect our divisions and potentially fuel discord with their subjective interpretations?”
Malviya did not stop there, and in his attack on the Congress, he took aim at the party’s supposed foreign influences. “It seems the Congress is still under the shadow of George Soros, blindly following a path that threatens India’s social harmony,” he remarked, implying that the decisions were influenced by foreign interests.
Piketty, a prominent economist and chair professor at both Paris School of Economics and the London School of Economics, is globally recognised for his expertise in analysing income and wealth inequality. While his credentials in the field of economics are undisputed, Malviya’s remark suggest that entrusting such a task to a foreigner raises concerns.
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi echoed Malviya’s concern, suggesting the move indicates a “deeper mystery” of Congress’ relations with foreign entities.