GDP row: Mahtab supports Dubey, suggests debate in Lok Sabha

BJP member Nishikant Dubey, who has questioned the relevance of GDP, found support from senior BJD leader B Mahtab in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with the latter suggesting that there should be a debate in greater detail on the issues raised by the ruling party MP.

Mahtab said that the focus should be on gross happiness instead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and added that developed countries like the United Kingdom and New Zealand are doing so.

Bhutan, he said, had already rejected GDP as a parameter for development.

"The House should deliberate in greater detail on the GDP," he said while participating in the debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants and mentioned the issues raised by Dubey earlier in the week.

While participating in the debate on Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on Monday, Dubey had said that the GDP has no relevance and it should not be treated as 'Bible, Ramayan and Mahabharat'.

The Congress had ridiculed Dubey's remarks.

The BJP leader was also trolled on social media. An irked Dubey raised the issue in the Zero Hour on Tuesday and demanded that government should frame laws to regulate social media for trolling statements made on the floor of the House.

Although Mahtab supported Dubey, he also expressed concern over the GDP growth rate declining to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in second quarter of the current fiscal saying "the economy is in the midst of slowdown... picture is much worse than the headline figure (of growth)."