I am no Rahul Gandhi and I have no air-conditioners.
We did not have 44 years of "extreme socialism". In fact European capitalist countries (such as France, Germany etc.) were far more socialist than we ever were -- free govt. education, free health services, nationalized banks etc. I also do not have a problem with private enterprise -- provided they are regulated and taxed properly and they do not get to dictate the agenda of the government. Finally, it is absolutely not clear from the data that the RATE of poverty reduction has gone up during the "reform" era. What IS absolutely clear though is that the income inequalities and the gap between the rich and the poor has increased enormously, and we will all pay for this.
