Will investigate Modi govt’s data scam after being voted to power: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday launched a fresh assault on BJP on the back of a National Sample Survey Organisation report pointing to gaps in India’s GDP numbers, and said macro economic indicators have confirmed that the Indian economy under Modi government has entered a “disastrous phase of slowdown”.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram criticised PM Modi and Union minister Arun Jaitley for their failures and accused Jaitley of perfecting the art of “concealing” data and projecting “doctored” information. “The Finance Ministry's report is a damning indictment of the state of the economy in the country. This is perhaps the weakest point in the economy,” he said, adding that the next government has a lot of work to repair the economy to which the BJP has done “great damage”.
“The NSSO shot a major hole into the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) GDP series. It turns out that the MCA data is full of falsehoods and is full of companies that do not exist or cannot be traced. That is the kind of bluff and bluster that the Modi government has perpetuated,” Chidambaram said.
“The manner in which GDP data is being generated is nothing short of a scandal. Once our government takes oath, there must be an independent investigation into this,” Congress leader Ahmed Patel said.
Chidambaram also said there isn’t a single parameter that shows the economy is in good shape, adding that private expenditure, government expenditure and fixed investment rates have also fallen in the last five years. “With each passing day, as Modi indulges in vile rhetoric, the Finance Minister blogs poor attempts at rationalising that language. Between the rhetoric and the blogging, this government has forgotten the economy. The next government has a huge task of reviving the economy. Thankfully, the Congress party is ready to steer the Indian economy out of the Modi-Jaitley slump,” he said.
Alleging that the political leadership has “interfered” and “intimidated” the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Congress also said it will investigate, if voted to power, the “scam” in which CSO was complicit in putting out false data.