Congress on Saturday alleged mismanagement of the economy by the Government and that it has suffered due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "reckless" decisions. The party also hit out at for announcing that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability, saying only a "foolish Government" would make such a disclosure and "betray" a defence secret.
Congress claimed that Modi has to be held accountable for destroying tens of millions of jobs by demonetisation. While former Union Minister Anand Sharma said that in the past five years, India's economy is "gasping" instead of "galloping", former Finance Minister P Chidambaram sought answers from the prime minister on high unemployment rate and job losses, citing data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
"The government is destroying the credibility of Indian data by embellishing the data, fudging numbers and inflating figures. The fact is that there has been an monumental mismanagement of Indian economy under his watch. It is not galloping economy but a gasping economy, a struggling economy which has also suffered because of the reckless decision of Prime Minister Modi," he said at AICC briefing.
Sharma said the four engines of the Indian economy — investment, manufacturing, exports and capital formation — were down. "He has to answer for a hasty imposition of a flawed GST model which he claimed to be 'one nation, one tax', but it is one nation, five taxes which excludes 45 per cent of the revenue, making Indian GST the most burdensome most complex," he said.
Sharma also alleged that the country has played with the credibility of the country's data. "Fudging of the data is not going to help. NITI Aayog's job is not meant to embellish numbers and fudge the country's data. The prime minister and his government has played with the credibility of the country's data. They have dented the credibility," he said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hit out at Prime Minister for announcing that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability, saying only a "foolish government" would make such a disclosure and "betray" a defence secret.
Slamming the announcement by of A-SAT by prime minister, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the motive of the government in making the announcement. "The capability to shoot down a satellite has existed for many years. A wise government will keep the capability secret. Only a foolish government will disclose it and betray a defence secret. Besides, why was it done now in the middle of an election campaign? Only to boost the sagging fortunes of the BJP," Chidambaram claimed.
Following the prime minister's speech, several Opposition parties had complained to the Election Commission alleging violation of the model code of conduct. The Election Commission, however, said on Friday night that Modi's address to the nation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite missile did not violate the model code of conduct.
