In an extreme personalized show aggression on finance minister Arun Jaitley in recent times, ex-finance minister Yashwant Sinha made the following claims about the Indian economy (under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi).

First, that the economy was on a downward twist;

Second, that ‘demonetisation has demonstrated to be an absolute disaster’;

Third, that GST was deficiently visualized and implemented;

Fourth, extra jobs have been lost under Modi-Jaitley;

Fifth, there was no hope for recovery as far as the situation is concerned. 

Mr. Sinha raised some serious questions about the economy of the country and as an ex-finance Minister; his views have to be taken sincerely. Mr. Sinha has also been accorded cult status, and some are openly talking about Mr. Sinha being the face of the opposition (to PM Modi) in the 2019 elections.

What are the economic facts mentioned by Sinha to support his conclusions?

Sinha’s also mentions that the GDP growth rate was 5.7% in 2017; in addition, that “according to the old method of calculation, the growth rate of 5.7% is actually 3.7% or less.” Sadly, the IMF-UN-World Bank authorization national accounts methodology has become something that the political opposition has used to discredit the Modi government already. But until Sinha’s column, the opposition had renounce from questioning the 5.7% figure - it was low enough to be crucial for government management, so why inconvenience. But is Sinha right about the 3.7%? The main criticism about the new GDP figures was that the estimates of industrial production were at sharp variance with those customarily derived from data. In 2017 GDP data has industrial production growth at 1.6%, and the IIP figures for the same quarter show a higher average of 1.9% growth

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