Congress leader Anand Sharma. (Express Photo)
The Congress on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finance Minister have no vision or roadmap to restore the health of the economy. The party asked the government to come out with a white paper on the state of the economy and argued that the new method of calculating GDP is debatable. Senior party leader Anand Sharma said economic growth, if calculated using the old method, will be around 4.3 per cent. “The government should release GDP numbers for the past 10 years as per the old series and the new series. Let the government also release the manufacturing and the IIP numbers as per the old series and the new series. By changing the methodology, a failed student does not get merit or first class.”
“By changing the marking system, you cannot dupe the world,” he said at a press meet at AICC headquarters. “The Prime Minister and his Finance Minister have no vision or roadmap to restore the health of the economy. Our advice to the Prime Minister, his Finance Minister and his other apologists and propagandists is: stop making boastful claims, be serious, make a course correction and give an account of your failures.”
Asked about the imminent cabinet reshuffle, he said changing some ministers will not erase the stamp of incompetence imprinted on this government. “It is a prerogative of the Prime Minister to shuffle and reshuffle. He may appoint anyone and remove anyone. That will make zero difference because this is a Prime Minister who believes in complete concentration of power,” he said.
