The Congress on Sunday accused the government of misleading people with its "trickery, fakery, quackery" and said the economic measures announced by the Centre amounted to only 1.6 per cent of India's GDP, i.e. worth Rs 3.22 lakh crore instead of Rs 20 lakh crore as claimed by the Prime Minister.
Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must "walk the talk" and announce the required measures by giving money in the hands of the poor and small and medium enterprises to help reboot the economy.
He noted that there was a difference between providing stimulus to the economy and merely giving loans and credit to people.
Sharma, a former union minister, challenged the finance minister for a debate on the economic package while raising questions about the announcements made by the prime minister.
"The government's economic package is only of Rs 3.22 lakh crore and is only 1.6 per cent of India's GDP and is not worth Rs 20 lakh crore as announced by the prime minister," Sharma said while addressing a press conference through video conferencing.
"I am questioning the Finance Minister, disputing the announcement of Prime Minister and challenging the government to disprove me on the numbers given by me and am ready for a debate with the finance minister," he said.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram said the Additional Borrowing and Additional Expenditure (over and above the Expenditure Budget of Rs 30,42,230 crore) will be the true measure of the fiscal stimulus.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, "20LakhCrorePackage of PM-FM is Anti-Poor, Anti-Farmer, Anti-Labour, Anti-Shopkeepers, Anti-Salaried Class, Anti-MSMEs & Anti-India. India gets Trickery, Fakery, Quackery. No wonder, 20LakhCrore=0000000000000 (Only Thirteen Zeros)."
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also took to Twitter saying, "Fiscal cost of the grand '10 pc of GDP' package is ONLY approx. 1 pc of GDP. Modi govt obstinately focuses on medium-term supply side measures while ignoring: Massive demand slump. Immediate relief for COVID19 Crisis. Maximum Lies, Minimum Stimulus."
The opposition leader said amid the coronavirus pandemic, the National Disaster Management Act has not empowered the government to embark upon a "grand clearance sale" of India's national assets. "These issues will have to be discussed, revisited and corrected."