Hours after the latest GDP figures were released, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the government, saying under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's economy is in recession for the first time ever.
“Under PM Modi, India's economy is officially in a recession for the first time ever,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
“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 said.
The Indian economy contracted by 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal amid the COVID-19 crisis, compared to 4.4 per cent growth in the same quarter last year. With the second consecutive contraction, India has entered a technical recession for the first time in its history.
The economy had shrunk by an unprecedented 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal due to the coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdowns. Comparatively, the 7.5 per cent contraction was less steep—and lower than what many estimates forecast for the Indian economy this quarter.
Earlier this month, on the anniversary of government's demonetisation move, Gandhi had said that the note ban 'destroyed' Indian economy and helped a few crony capitalists.
"The government says that the reason (for economic slowdown) is COVID but if that is the reason, there is COVID in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world also. The reason is not COVID, the reason is 'Notebandi' and GST," Gandhi had said while referring to reports that the economy of Bengladesh surpassed Indian economy.
