Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Thursday attempted to clarify his 'R' virus diagnosis of the ailing Indian economy, saying it has infected the hardware of the Indian economy and software of Indian governance.
"Yesterday, a very eminent editor asked me whether the 'J' virus was responsible for slowing down the Indian economy. He had his own elaboration of what he meant by a 'J' virus. So therefore, I explained to him that it wasn't the 'J' virus; it was in fact the 'R' virus which infected the hardware of the Indian economy and software of Indian governance," he told media here.
Tewari further said the Indian economy is back on track.
"The fundamentals remain strong and we will again be at the commanding heights of a very very robust growth paradigm," he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha earlier today lashed out at Tewari for blaming former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai for the economic downturn, and said that enormous corruption in the Congress-led UPA II Government has spoiled the Indian story.
"He is absolutely wrong, and, he is nothing but a 'bhonpu' for the government. CAG, CBI, other agencies of the government are doing nothing except bringing to the public domain the enormous corruption in this government and it certainly is the reason. CAG is not the reason, corruption is the reason," Sinha told media in New Delhi.
"So, instead of dealing with the disease, if Manish Tewari decides to shoot the messenger, so be it. But the point is that corruption has spoiled the Indian story," he added.
Tewari, who was speaking yesterday at the Mail Today Education Conclave 2013, said it is not the 'J- virus' syndrome - C.P. Joshi, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Jayanthi Natarajan and Jairam Ramesh - that has hobbled the India growth story.
Tewari said the infection is entirely different: the 'R-virus', meaning former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai.
"One of the greatest damages done to this country was by the former CAG. Rather than the J-virus, it was the R-virus that derailed the growth story," he said.
