In perhaps his strongest defence of handling of the economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government steered the Indian economy out of "unbelievable" decay left by an "economist prime minister and a 'know-it-all' finance minister".
India is now the fastest growing large economy of the world with strong fundamentals to propel further growth, Modi added.
Rejecting criticism of jobless growth, he said if state after state is creating good number of jobs, how can the Centre be creating joblessness?
While playing politics on the state of the economy in 2014 would have been extremely simple and politically advantageous, the government thought reforms were needed and "we preferred to think of 'India First'."
Stating that the details about the "decay in the Indian economy were unbelievable" with a potential to stir a crisis "under an 'economist' prime minister and a 'know-it-all' finance minister", he said India was in the Fragile Five economies of the world and "there were several landmines laid in various sectors."
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