Surjewala slams Suresh Angadi over economy remark, says he has lost political stability

Congress slammed BJP leader and Union Minister over his remark that economy is doing fine with people getting married and trains full, alleging that such statements were being made in a planned manner to divert attention from reality.

New Delhi: A day after Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi claimed that the economy doing fine since marriages are being held in the country, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday hit out at him and said that the BJP leader has lost his 'political stability'.

"The BJP Minister saying that the economy is doing well as marriages are being held and people are travelling in aeroplanes. It is a shameful statement. He has lost his political stability. He is making fun of people of the country," Surjewala said while speaking to media here.

"On the one hand, people do not have a proper meal to eat. Now, the arrogant BJP Minister is questioning why marriages have not stopped. This shows that BJP ministers' arrogance level has reached to such level that they have blindfolded themselves towards the apathy and issues concerning common people," he said.

Surjewala further claimed that the consumption of pulses, rice, vegetables and fruits have reduced from 15 to 20 per cent and the economy rate is gradually falling. Even the rural economy has been adversely affected.

"There is also a fall in import per cent of these commodities," he said.

Dismissing the opposition's criticism over the state of the economy, Angadi on Friday had said that the economy is doing fine as the airports and trains across the country are full and people are getting married.

He added that some people are trying to malign the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the economy will soon pick up.

The opposition parties have been criticising the government over the state of the economy and plan to raise the issue in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) office-bearers including party secretaries, State Congress Committee presidents and Congress Legislative Party leaders on Saturday held a meeting at Congress war room in New Delhi to discuss various issues including economy slowdown.

Moody's Investors Service had on Thursday said that India's economic slowdown is lasting longer than previously expected and pegged its forecast for the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the country at 5.6 per cent in 2019 calendar year."We have revised down our growth forecast for India. We now forecast slower real GDP growth of 5.6 per cent in 2019 from 7.4 per cent in 2018," it said in the Global Macro Outlook for 2020-21.