Narendra Modi govt trying to shut defence PSUs, says Anand Sharma

The senior Congress leader slams Modi govt on job creation and economy

The NDA government is trying to shut the defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), the Congress today said.

"Stakes in Indian PSUs are being sold by the government. No country is able to defend itself without being able to produce good-quality weapons.

"Hence defence PSUs cannot be shut down for crony capitalism. The Congress pledges to resist and expose this agenda of the BJP," senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said in Mumbai.

The Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also slammed the Modi government on job creation and economy.

The government should publish the names of all those to whom it provided jobs in the last three years, Sharma said.

"We also demand a white paper on the economy. The Centre should also come out with comparative GDP figures of the last ten years when the UPA was in power as per the old and new series," the former Union commerce minister said, speaking to reporters.

"All this will prove that the economy is not galloping as claimed, but is slowing down," he said.

The prime minister has no proper roadmap to take the economy forward, and economists all over the world have started questioning the fudging of economic data by the BJP-led government, he claimed.

"The PM owes an apology for this embarrassment," the Congress leader said.

India saw a national investment rate of 34.8% under the UPA, which has now come down to 26.9%, he claimed.

"The 7% fall indicates that new industries have not started, new capacities have not been created and one-third of existing capacity is lying unused. The gross capital formation has moved in the negative territory in real terms for the first time," Sharma said.

When the UPA was in power, crude prices were hovering around $109 which have now come down to $50 per barrel, he pointed out.

"The government has thus saved 100 billion dollars annually, which is Rs 6.5 lakh crore.

"But since petrol prices have remained more or less the same (in the country), where did all the money accumulated in three years disappear?" he asked.

"The PM has spent between Rs 1,500 and 2,000 crore on the publicity of his three years in power. You see his photos everywhere," he said.