Actual GDP Growth At 1.5 Per Cent, Will Eclipse Ayodhya Gains For BJP: Subramanian Swamy

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has come down heavily on his own party’s government over the abysmal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Swamy, a renowned economist, slammed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and questioned her knowledge of economics. The BJP MP also claimed that the actually GDP growth of India was at 1.5 per cent and not 4.5 per cent as shown by official government figures.

"....if the economy is so bad that a guy doesn’t know how to pay his child’s school fees or whether his bank is going to collapse. We have reached that stage of the economy. We are on the verge of a collapse. Some miracle can change that. Good policies could change that. But I don’t see any good policies coming," Huffingtonpost quoted Swamy as saying.

When asked if the economic mess would supercede the gains of the Ayodhya verdict for the BJP, Swamy responded in positive. "It would be offset by the economy if it comes to mass unemployment. The consequence of banks folding up, the consequence of cutting down of shifts in a factory, all these will lead to layoffs. Lay-offs is unemployment. Unemployment will supersede every other thing including the Ram Mandir," he said.

Also Read | Growth Down, But There Won't Be Any Recession, Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The BJP leader also sought to dismiss the "development" claims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of not listening to his advice on economic affairs but to a few people who, he claims, only speak lies to him.

"There is no vikas taking place. I’ve been writing this since 2015, not now. We are heading for a tailspin and soon a crash. But Modi doesn’t listen. He listens to people who do not tell him the truth. All the people that he has given high positions to do not tell him the truth," he told the HuffPost.

The country's GDP grew at 4.5 per cent in the second quarter as compared to the 7.5 per cent in the same period a year ago. This was the worst performance in last six years. The previous low was recorded at 4.3 per cent in the January-March period of 2012-13 during the UPA rule.

When asked about his views about the current finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Swami said,"She does not know any economics. If you see the press conferences, she is handing the mic to civil servants to answer. What is the problem in the country today? Poor demand. Supply is not the problem. But what did she do? She relaxes taxes for corporates. Corporates are flushed with supply. They will just use it to write off their debts. That is what they have done."