Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacks government over GDP and jobs, says ‘reveal who’s behind the mess’

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Congress leader said in Hindi that the GDP rate showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, which had promised ‘Achche din’ (good days), has punctured the economy.

Priyanka further claimed that neither there’s GDP growth nor is rupee strong against US Dollar. “Jobs are missing,” she added.

The Congress leader asked the government to clarify as to who was behind the poor economic situation in the country.

The fresh attack comes a day after government data showed that the GDP for 2019-20 slowed down to seven-year low at five per cent as against eight per cent in previous fiscal and 5.8 percent for Q4 2018-19.

A statement released by the government said, “GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2019-20 is estimated at Rs 35.85 lakh crore, as against Rs 34.14 lakh crore in Q1 of 2018-19, showing a growth rate of 5.0 percent. Quarterly GVA at Basic Price at Constant (2011-12) Prices for Q1 of 2019-20 is estimated at Rs 33.48 lakh crore, as against Rs 31.90 lakh crore in Q1 of 2018-19, showing a growth rate of 4.9 percent over the corresponding quarter of previous year.”

According to the government, the first quarter estimates are based on agricultural production during Rabi season of 2018-19.

The economic activities which registered growth of over 7 percent in Q1 of 2019-20 over Q1 of 2018-19 are ‘Electricity, Gas, Water Supply & Other Utility Services’, ‘Trade, Hotels, Transport, Communication and Services Related to Broadcasting’ and ‘Public Administration, Defence and Other Services’. The growth in the ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’, ‘Mining and Quarrying’, ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Construction’ and ‘Financial, Real Estate and Professional Services’ is estimated to be 2.0 percent, 2.7 percent, 0.6 percent, 5.7percent, and 5.9 percent, respectively, during this period, official data showed.