Under PM Modi, India’s economy in recession first-time ever, tweets Rahul Gandhi

The Congress leader said PM Modi needed to understand that the economy could not be ‘ordered to grow by diktats’.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Indian economy is in recession for the first time under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi’s tweet came after data showed India’s gross domestic product or GDP contracted by 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter after the economy shrank by a record 23.9 per cent in the last quarter.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted this after it was announced that India’s GDP growth contracted by 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter. The GDP had contracted by 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter. (HT Photo)

“Under PM Modi, India’s economy is officially in a recession for the first time ever,” he said on Twitter. “More importantly, 3 crore people are still looking for work under MNREGA. Economy cannot be ordered to grow by diktats. PM needs to first understand this basic idea,” he added.

Owning to the coronavirus lockdown among other factors, India’s GDP had contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2020-21 fiscal (April 2020 to March 2021). The GDP contraction of 7.5 per cent in July-September compares with a growth of 4.4 per cent in the same quarter last year.

According to PTI, though the 7.5 per cent contraction pushed India into its first technical recession since Independence, records going back to 1996 show that a sharp recovery holds out hopes for the economy turning around before the end of the fiscal year.

(with PTI inputs)