The Maharashtra Congress on Wednesday claimed that the current economic situation in India is similar to what it was in Sri Lanka three years ago and if corrective steps are not taken by the Centre in time it may become explosive. The Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government of not resolving the serious problems faced by the people and instead raking up religious and communal issues, and also alleged that the Modi dispensation was painting a wrong picture that inflation is under control.
“While inflation is on the rise, the BJP government is misleading the people by presenting a false picture before the country,” Congress’s state unit chief spokesman Atul Londhe said in a statement. The prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed in the last four-five years. In a city like Nagpur, an LPG gas cylinder, which would once cost Rs 410, has gone up to Rs 1,100; the price edible oil has gone up from Rs 70 to Rs 200 a litre, of CNG from Rs 36 to Rs 90 per kg, he said. The prices of petrol and diesel have crossed the Rs 100-mark a long ago. Vegetables are also turning costlier. Inflation is on the rise and the common man is being burdened under it, Londhe added.
The situation in India is similar to what it was in the crisis-hit Sri Lanka three years ago and if steps are not taken in time considering the gravity, it will not take long for the situation in the country to become explosive, he claimed. “But the government is playing with the numbers to paint a wrong picture that inflation is under control. Attempts are being made to show that inflation has come down by reducing some food grain figures. The government can show a false picture by playing with numbers, but in reality the situation is very different,” he said.
Today, India’s debt has risen to 92 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The government will have to repay a debt of USD 267 billion by next month. The government is not allowing these facts to come out in the public domain, he added. “The government is bringing religious issues to the fore to divert attention from the real and pressing issues. But it will cost us dearly. The Congress party is protesting against the Centre’s wrong policies and the government should address the basic issues of the people in a timely manner, otherwise serious consequences will have to be faced,” Londhe said. Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.
