Wings Have Fallen Off Our Plane: Rahul’s Attack on BJP Post Sinha’s Takedown of BJP’s Handling of Economy

New Delhi: Post BJP Leader Yashwant Sinha’s attack on his government over the handling of the economy, the Congress blasted the government over the same.

The attack came after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha wrote a strongly-worded article against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s handling of the economy, saying that it is in a mess and "raid raj" has become the order of the day. He also questioned the current methodology to calculate GDP numbers.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also took a dig at Jaitley, saying people should take positions as the "wings have fallen off our plane".

“We were told to shut up when we raised issues on economy, but Congress will speak boldly on disastrous path the government has taken,” senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram said that the Congress was happy that Sinha had spoken truth and that it echoed the party’s views about economy.

He said the truth is that the growth rate of 5.7 percent is actually 3.7 percent or less and that "instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game".

“Congress has exposed many weaknesses in the economy and the terrible mismanagement,” he said.

“As I travel around the country, what I hear is "Achhe din to aaye nahi, ye bure din kab jaayenge?"he added.

In an article in the Indian Express headlined, "I need to speak up now", Sinha said a revival by the time of the next Lok Sabha election was "highly unlikely" and a "hard landing" appeared inevitable.

"Demonetisation and right after that GST were like two diseases hitting the economy in quick succession," Sinha said in an exclusive conversation with News18. "The state of the economy is not good," the veteran BJP leader added.

Sinha said his sentiment was shared by a large number of leaders within the BJP but people were not speaking up out of fear.

"It is extremely hard in the remaining 18 months of Modi government to get the economy back on track and for some concrete effect to be seen," Sinha told News18.

Meanwhile, the government rejected Sinha's critique on the state of economy, saying the world acknowledges that India is the fastest growing economy.

"The world acknowledges India is the fastest growing economy. No one should forget it. Our image at the international level is very strong," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.​