Telangana: BJP questions inclusion of French economist in expert group analysing caste data

Thomas Piketty’s recommendations could inflict a lot of harm on salaried and middle class, says BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday criticised the Telangana government for including French economist Thomas Piketty in an expert group to analyse the State’s caste survey, as it questioned the involvement of a foreigner in studying “sensitive” social data.

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asked why the State’s Congress government needed a foreign expert and if there was any dearth of capable people in India.

He noted that many Indians were occupying important positions globally, slamming the State government for including a foreigner in the 11-member group headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.

The Rajya Sabha member said the model proposed by Piketty, who has extensively studied wealth inequality, had drawn heavy criticism abroad and noted that his tax recommendations could inflict a lot of harm on the salaried and middle class.

He alleged that the Congress had stood with foreign forces to echo their criticism of the Indian economy and various other issues, and asked the main opposition party to explain its decision to involve a foreigner in analysing sensitive caste data.

GVL Narasimha Rao, another BJP leader, alleged that the Congress’ fundamental belief had always been that India was not good enough.

“Not good enough to govern itself, to defend itself, or even to think for itself. And today, they prove it yet again by outsourcing our sensitive caste demographics to a foreigner,” he said.

He asked, “What will happen when a foreigner distorts our data to fit a globalist narrative? What narratives will they spin about India’s social fabric? And who benefits from that?”