India is a looking a lot like Sri Lanka and no distraction will help the economy, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday, even as his party slammed the Narendra Modi government for “record breaking” wholesale inflation.
“Distracting people won’t change the facts. India looks a lot like Sri Lanka,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted, with graphs comparing the situation between the two countries on three different parameters.
The first graph showed the almost identical pattern of unemployment going up from 2017, peaking around 2020 and then marginally dipping in 2021.
The second graph showed petrol prices following a similar trajectory in both the countries; the third graph pointed to a sharp rise in communal violence in 2020-21.
Mr. Gandhi attributed his comparative analysis to data to sourced from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, unstarred questions in the Lok Sabha, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.
At a press briefing, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said unbridled rise in the cost of food and fuel had pushed wholesale price inflation to 30-year high at 15.08%.
“Food prices are up nearly 8.5% and as a direct consequence of low wages and unemployment. Reports suggest that consumption of vegetables has nearly halved in big markets. From this very platform, we want to tell the government, instead of resorting to weapons of mass distraction, you might as well focus on the one issue that matters and that is to rein in high prices because this impacts every individual,” Ms. Shrinate said.
Separately, the party also announced a host of organisational programmes, including two-day shivirs (camps) in every State on June 1 and 2, a one-day workshop in District Congress Committees (DCC) on June 11, an Azadi Gaurav yatra between August 9 and 15, and a ‘ Rozgar Do’ yatra (give employment march) by the youth Congress and student wing.
“Over the last two days, after the conclusion of the Udaipur Nav Sankalp chintan shivir and the Udaipur Declaration, under the guidance of the general secretary, organisation, all State in-charges and general secretaries of the Indian National Congress have conferred with each other and we have taken four concrete follow up decisions,” party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
