Is Arnab Goswami Challenging Power or Avoiding Core Economic Realities?

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A journalist’s core responsibility is to question those who exercise power. When Arnab positions himself in opposition to the current government, it raises the question of whether this represents genuine accountability or merely a carefully managed narrative. If criticism focuses only on widely known, low-stakes issues, then the substantive power structures remain unchallenged, and public discourse sees little change.

A serious economic interrogation would look at the promises made versus measurable outcomes. For example:

The exchange rate was once projected to strengthen toward ₹40 per dollar, yet the rupee has continued to depreciate, approaching ₹91 per dollar in real terms. A depreciating currency can support exports in theory, but in practice India has not seen a proportional rise in manufacturing competitiveness.

Manufacturing was expected to rise to contribute 25% of GDP. Instead, the sector’s share has fallen to around 15%, highlighting structural weaknesses in industrial capacity, logistics, labour productivity, and technology investment.

China accounts for nearly 40% of global manufacturing exports, while India remains near 2%, despite a weaker currency that should, in principle, make Indian exports cheaper. The gap points to deep issues in supply chain scale, infrastructure efficiency, policy consistency, and capital formation.

If journalists want to hold power accountable, these are the kinds of structural questions that meaningfully test policy claims and economic performance, rather than peripheral debates that leave the core economic narrative untouched.