Ahead Of Union Budget, Congress Slams Centre Over 'Rising Debt And Inequality'

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh in the last nine years, the debt on the country has increased from Rs 55 lakh crore to Rs 155 lakh crore.

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh

New Delhi: Days ahead of the Union Budget, Congress slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over ‘rising debt and inequality’ in the country.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh in the last nine years, the debt on the country has increased from Rs 55 lakh crore to Rs 155 lakh crore and the debt per Indian has increased 2.53 times from Rs 43,124 to Rs 1.09 lakh in nine years during the BJP rule.

“From 1947 till 31 March, 2014, the total debt of the Government of India increased to Rs 55.87 lakh crore. The question is why in the last nine years it further grew to Rs 155.31 lakh crore, which is a jump of 2.77 times? The Modi government is burying our future generations in debt,” Vallabh told in the press conference.

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Further referring to IMF data for 2022, Vallabh said that India's debt to GDP was 83 per cent, which is "far above our peers, emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), which have average Debt of 64.5 per cent".

Meanwhile, referring to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocking the airing of the BBC documentary series on PM Modi and the Gujarat leadership after the 2002 riots following the controversy over it, Vallabh said it is a ‘scheme of the Government’.

He further said that the Centre would have sent the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the police to the BBC office had they been headquartered in India.

Launching an attack on the PM Modi-led government, Vallabh said that the government would be presenting the Budget for the final time for the next fiscal year.

He referred to the last Oxfam India report 'Survival of the richest: The India story' that showed only 5 per cent of Indians own more than 60 per cent of the country’s wealth.