Economy 'quite well' under PM Modi despite global slowdown: BJP hits out at Manmohan Singh

BJP on Monday hit out at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his criticism of the government's handling of the economy and claimed that India was doing "quite well" despite the slowdown in the world economy.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra addressing a press conference here said: "There is a slowdown in the world economy but India's economy is at top. Because of the strong base of the fundamentals of Indian economy, our economy is doing quite well."

Patra hit out stating that Singh was used as a "puppet" by those who wanted to promote corruption, nepotism and dynasty in the country.

The BJP leader hailed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for announcing several measures to boost the economy and said the Ministry will take the country's economy to new heights.

"Today, India is among the world's top five economy due to its economic policies. We are moving ahead as a strong economy and will take it to new heights. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently announced several measures including bank merger, reducing loan rates, investing 100 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector. All these measures will boost our economy and take it to new heights," Patra said.

Slamming Manmohan Singh, Patra said he was the Prime Minister of the country for 10 long years and what should have been the real growth of India, it could not attain that growth story.

"He was an economist but behind the scenes, he was being given guidances by those who made him a puppet. They (Congress) promoted corruption, nepotism and dynasty. We have witnessed what injustice has been done to the Indian economy," he said.

Patra added that India wants the economy to be bereft of informal black money and real credentials not based on informal structure.

Claiming that India is doing quite well despite the world crisis, the BJP leader said: "Modi makes it possible. We have seen this in the last six years. India's economy is a strong economy with good credentials. It is a strong economy with a firm base. It is a strong economy with formal foundations with reforms like GST, bank insolvency code and because of the strong base of our fundamentals, the Indian economy is doing quite well despite world crisis."

Singh on Sunday had said the state of the economy was "deeply worrying" and urged the government to put aside "vendetta politics" and reach out to sane voices and thinking minds to steer the economy out of this "man-made crisis".

The Congress leader blamed "all-round mismanagement" by the Modi government for the slowdown.

Singh's attack came after the country reported a slow GDP growth rate of 5 per cent for the first quarter of this fiscal.