Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday alleged that the Narendra Modi government’s claim of India achieving the highest-ever growth in the past four-and-a-half years was based on “bogus” numbers.
“The BJP’s claim of ‘highest growth rate’ under the NDA is based on the bogus numbers produced by NITI Aayog. Those numbers have been rejected by every economist and statistician of repute,” Mr. Chidambaram tweeted.
He said the Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) numbers published earlier and those released by the National Statistics Commission Committee on Real Sector Statistics last August were the only “credible” figures.
“UPA 1 years (2004 to 2009) were the best growth years since Independence and in fact, the best ever,” he said.
Mr. Chidambaram’s comment comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Vibrant Gujarat summit that India had seen highest-ever growth after his government came to power.
Congress leader Ahmed Patel was another Congress leader who contested contested such claims.
“In 4.5 years, India’s debt increased by 50% to 82 lakh crore. Reckless spending & creating liabilities for future governments are key features of their so called ‘Gujarat Model’,” he tweeted.
“Government is under illusion that last 4 years has been the best for GDP growth in India’s history. Then why has export growth in last 4 years been one of the worst in India’s history? 2013-2014: $312 billion 2017-2018: $302 billion.”
