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‘Falling GDP, rising unemployment’: Rahul Gandhi attacks govt

The Congress vice-president said issues are manufactured to “distract from this fundamental failure”

Updated on: Jun 1, 2017, 11:25:06 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised on Thursday the Union government over the recent economic indicators that showed the country’s GDP growth to have slowed.

Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi (REUTERS FILE PHOTO)
Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi (REUTERS FILE PHOTO)

“Falling #GDP. Rising #unemployment. Every other issue is manufactured to distract us from this fundamental failure,” said Gandhi, in a post on Twitter that linked to a news article on Wednesday’s announcement of GDP figures.

Data from the government’s central statistics office showed an unexpected slump in the Gross Domestic Product growth that slowed to its lowest in more than two years in the March quarter. That meant India was no longer the world’s fastest growing major economy.

The annual economic growth at 6.1% in the January-March period was lower than the lowest analyst estimate of 6.5% in a Reuters poll.

It was also lower than China’s growth of 6.9% for the first three months of 2017.

Rahul Gandhi’s Congress, the arch-rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party – has routinely accused the government of trying to ignore serious issues.

On Wednesday, a Congress spokesperson accused the BJP of involvement in vandalism outside the party’s headquarters in New Delhi.

“BJP’s politics has three main ingredients -- to spread violence, divert attention (from real issues) and suppress voice (of dissent). Indulging in violence and vandalism, abusing the top Congress leadership and spreading garbage has become the character of the ruling party,” Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told reporters.

He was reacting to violence outside the Akbar road headquarters of the Congress allegedly by Hindu Yuva Vahini workers.

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