Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram mocks Modi govt over 5% GDP growth

Without saying much, former finance minister P Chidambaram slammed Modi government on India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth while he was on his way to CBI special court.

A group of journalists asked P Chidambaram if he wanted to say anything as he has been in Central Bureau of Investigation custody for 15 days, Chidambaram smiled and said, “5 per cent.”

On being asked what he means by this, he responded, “ you don’t remember 5 per cent?”

The reporter promptly replied, “GDP.”

And that was it. His just saying “five per cent” was sufficient comment on the state of economy. The Congress also tweeted the video saying, “A quick reminder by P Chidambaram on why he's feared by the BJP govt.”

Modi government has been under heavy criticism after India's economic growth dropped to more than six-year low of 5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20 due to a sharp deceleration in the manufacturing sector and sluggish agriculture output, according to official data released on August 30.

The previous low was recorded at 4.3 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2012-13. The economic growth was 8 per cent in the same quarter of 2018-19.

The Reserve Bank had marginally lowered the GDP growth projection for 2019-20 to 6.9 per cent from 7 per cent projected earlier in the June policy, and underlined the need for addressing growth concerns by boosting aggregate demand.