Amartya Sen’s remark on ‘Hindu Rashtra’ has no link with reality: BJP

Kolkata: The BJP on Thursday disapproved of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s assertion that the Lok Sabha poll results showed India is not a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, asserting it had no connection with the actual picture on the ground.

The saffron party said the eminent economist should see things from a neutral point of view.

“Even if the NDA government does the best work in the world, Mr Amartya Sen will not appreciate that. He should have judged the situation in the country before the party came to power, and the current situation after all these years,” senior BJP leader and its former West Bengal president Rahul Sinha told PTI.

Sinha also accused Sen of being biased towards the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.

“He is making such remarks to please Mamata Banerjee (CM). I wish he could see things from a neutral point of view… People of India have voted for the BJP for their efforts to cleanse the system, making it corruption-free and taking the economy to greater heights. Sen’s comments are not BJP’s headache,” he said.

Sen, 90, had on Wednesday evening said upon his return here from the US that “India is not a Hindu Rashtra only has been reflected in the election results”.

He also said that keeping people behind bars “without trial” has continued in the country since the British rule, and it is more in practice under the BJP government in comparison to the Congress regime.

Echoing Sinha’s view, another BJP leader and former Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri said the Nobel laureate’s comments had no connection with reality.

“These are his personal views. He stays in the US and sometimes comes to India for personal reasons. I do not think we should give much importance to whatever he said to seek attention. To remain in the government for three terms in a row is not a matter of joke… The people of India are not fools,” Chaudhuri said.

Meanwhile, TMC MP Dola Sen told PTI that the economist’s opinion was a “perfect analysis” of the current situation in India.

“These are very significant views. Prof Sen is a world-renowned economist who has perfectly analysed the situation. His take is objective and real,” she said.