BJP on Friday blamed UPA's "mismanagement" for the fall in growth rate, dubbing it as the "worst failure" of an economist Prime Minister.
Pulled down by poor performance of farm, manufacturing and mining sectors, economic growth slowed to 4.8 per cent in the January-March quarter and fell to a decade's low of 5 per cent for the entire 2012-13 fiscal.
"Mismanagement, misrule and non-governance has resulted in the dismal growth rate...this is the worst failure of an economist Prime Minister in managing the economy," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said here.
He said the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government started with a growth rate of 4.5 per cent in 1998 and took it to 8.5 per cent in 2004.
"UPA inherited a very sound base of 8 per cent plus growth rate. But they brought it down to 5 per cent. If it continues with the same policies, the growth rate could even come down to 4.5 per cent in the next fiscal," Javadekar said.
India's economic growth was at 6.2 per cent for the 2011-12 fiscal. It had grown by 5.4 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent in the first, second and third quarters, respectively, of 2012-13, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) today.