A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was tempted to release a White Paper in 2014 to disclose the extent of financial mismanagement in the UPA’s time, the Congress hit back on Saturday, accusing him of “misleading” the country about the current economic state.
At a press conference here, Anand Sharma, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister in charge of Commerce and Industry, challenged the Prime Minister on various economic factors — from the progress of foreign direct investment (FDI) to merchandise export and job creation.
“It is a matter of deep disappointment that Prime Minister is telling lies to the people on the issue of FDI,” Mr. Sharma said.
FDI inflowHe said though on July 20, the Union government informed that FDI in 2014-15 was $30 billion and had spiked to $40.9 billion the following year, the “highest FDI which India received was $46 billion in 2011,” when the Congress-led UPA was in power.
“The UPA had left a stable economy. Forex reserves were $300 billion. The national income grew three-fold. Nearly 14 crore people came out of poverty. India’s merchandise export was $323 billion. For the past two years, it has been constantly falling,” Mr. Sharma said. “Today our economy is in a worrying situation. Key parameters such as the national saving rate and the national investment rate have fallen.”
Challenges govt.Mr. Sharma challenged the government to present the White Paper to prove economic mismanagement in UPA’s time.
Earlier in the day, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram mocked the government over Mr. Modi’s “White Paper” remark, saying the ruling party should have released the document before presenting its first Union Budget in 2014.
“Govt should publish the contemplated White Paper. Before they withdraw the Economic Survey of 2014-15,” Mr. Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.
“Also withdraw RBI Annual Report and CSO Report for 2014-15. They will be non-White Papers!” he added.
