BJP shifting goal post like a "totalitarian" govt : TMC

Trinamool Congress on Tuesday hit out at the Central government over its aim of making India a five trillion dollar economy and accused it of shifting of goal posts like a "totalitarian" government.

"Finance Minister announced that the current budget is laying a long 10-year road map for the economy. A dream of making India a five trillion dollar economy by 2024-25 is shown by the government. In its own admission, India's GDP must grow at a rate of 8 per cent per annum to achieve this target. Like a typical totalitarian government it is shifting its goal post by changing its projection just to fool the people," said Trinamool's Shishir Adhikari.

 

Participating in the debate on Budget 2019, he said after completion of five years in government, no minister or no government document is talking about achieving a double-digit growth.

"Now, the new goal is five-trillion dollar economy. Even the former Economic Advisor of government who wrote about achieving double-digit growth is now admitting that real GDP growth is nearly 4.5 per cent during the last five years. Thus, this government thinks it can announce anything and get away without providing any evidence," he said.

The Trinamool leader attacked the government over lack of employment and described it as the biggest concern of the country, especially among the youth.

"Whimsical actions like demonetisation had created a grave situation where unemployment reached a 45-year high as per the government's own statistics. The government tried very hard to suppress NSSO report before the elections. The Budget speech also finds no mention of unemployment," he said.

Accusing the government of shifting gospel, manipulating figures and suppressed independence, he said institutions have been attacked and their independence undermined.

"The Reserve Bank of India, which always maintains the highest standards of independent decision making, was not seen in the last five years. We have seen two of the RBI Governors who were forced to move out of office. Recently, a Deputy Governor, who consistently opposed government interference in RBI matters, left prematurely before the completion of his term," he said.

The senior party leader also opposed the government's move of disinvesting the 42 PSUs and demanded that the petroleum product rate and cess should be withdrawn. He also urged the government to reduce the import duty on Kaju.