Pawan Khera says his party had repeatedly warned the government that the economy was ‘on its deathbed’, but those warnings were ignored
NEW DELHI — The Congress has launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government over rising inflation, weakening economic indicators and policy failures. The main opposition party also rejected the government’s claim that global geopolitical tensions were primarily responsible for the current economic challenges, as it is allegedly using the West Asia conflict to hide the rot set in the economy much before the conflict started.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Chairman of the AICC Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said the economic slowdown and inflationary pressures were the result of “years of mismanagement” and not merely due to external developments such as tensions in West Asia.
Khera said Prime Minister Modi was trying to attribute the economic crisis to ongoing international conflicts, but claimed that the Indian economy had already been under stress for several years. He said that Congress had repeatedly warned the government over the last decade, using economic data, that the economy was “on its deathbed”, but those warnings were ignored.
Presenting figures on fuel inflation, Khera noted that petrol prices had risen by 38 per cent and diesel prices by 62 per cent over the past 12 years. Questioning the government’s explanation of global factors, he asked what wars or international crises existed when fuel prices were already increasing domestically.
Referring to the previous UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, Khera said crude oil prices had remained more than USD 100 per barrel during that period, yet petrol and diesel prices did not cross Rs 70 per litre. In contrast, he noted that under the present government, fuel prices remained near Rs 100 per litre even when crude oil prices were around USD 50 per barrel.
He said that the Centre had collected nearly Rs 43 lakh crore through taxes and excise duties on petroleum products over the last 12 years. He disclosed that recent increases in fuel prices enabled oil companies to earn Rs 12,400 crore within hours.
The Congress leader also highlighted rising household expenses, stating that the price of an LPG cylinder had increased from Rs 414 in 2014 to Rs 915 currently. He said prices of milk, bread and eating out had also risen significantly, affecting common citizens.
On broader macroeconomic indicators, Khera noted that the Indian currency had weakened to nearly Rs 97 against the US dollar and added that the country’s foreign exchange reserves had declined by USD 38 billion in the past two months. He further revealed that foreign investors had withdrawn more than Rs 2 lakh crore from Indian markets, while unemployment had crossed 15 per cent.
Drawing a comparison with the 2008 global financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Khera said the then Congress-led government and its economic team had protected India from severe shocks through timely interventions. He remarked that the economy’s capacity to absorb shocks has been exhausted, adding that global factors are only partially responsible for the current economic crisis.
Responding to recent social media posts by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Congress spokesperson questioned the effectiveness of several flagship welfare schemes of the BJP government.
He pointed out that out of 58 crore Jan Dhan accounts, more than 15 crore were inactive and 62 percent contained balances below Rs 1,000. He also alleged that the non-performing asset ratio under the Mudra scheme had crossed 10 per cent.
Khera further said that 99.4 per cent of the budget allocated for the Prime Minister Internship Scheme in FY 2025-26 remained unused. He said that only 7.34 per cent of participants completed internships in the first phase, while 41 per cent dropped out midway.
Citing a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, he alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, including instances where benefits were issued to lakhs of people linked to a single mobile number, including deceased persons.
Khera said that gig workers lacked adequate financial security and accused the government of weakening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme and removing farmers from the beneficiary list of the PM-Kisan scheme.
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, Khera said while ordinary citizens were being advised to work from home and reduce fuel consumption, Modi himself continued foreign visits in a “Rs 8,500 crore VVIP aircraft” and organised large-scale roadshows.
Taunting the government, he remarked, the only scheme functioning with “full transparency” under the current government was “PM Prachar Yojana”, a reference to Modi’s excessive political publicity.
Khera also accused the Modi government of attempting to weaken democratic institutions and suppress dissent over the past decade. Calling the Opposition and media the “mirror in a democracy”, he said the government was trying to “break that mirror” so that the truth would not reach the public.
The Congress leader also questioned Prime Minister Modi for not holding an independent press conference during his tenure of 12 years in office.
