NEW DELHI: Hundred crore Indians do not have any extra income to spend, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed on Thursday and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's version of Viksit Bharat emptied ordinary Indians' pockets and filled the coffers of select billionaires.
India is staring at a global tariff war and trade barriers and the Union budget announcements have turned out to be a "damp squib", he further said.
"Narendra Modi ji, 100 crore Indians do not have any extra income to spend 60 per cent of our GDP is dependent on consumption. But it is only the top 10 per cent in India who drive economic growth and consumption and 90 per cent cannot afford to buy basic daily needs," the Rajya Sabha opposition leader said in a post on X.
"The middle 50 per cent of India's tax-paying population has seen little to no wage growth in the past decade. Rural wages are witnessing negative growth. Wealth concentration is widening, and your policies have failed to distribute income amongst all," he added.
The Congress president claimed that stagnant wages, persistent inflation and plunging consumption during the past 10 years had resulted in household savings falling to a 50-year low, income inequality climbing to a 100-year high and household debt reaching an all-time high.
"We are staring at a global tariff war and trade barriers. Unemployment has become unbearable for our youth. Budget announcements turned out to be damp squib!" Kharge said.
"Your version of 'Viksit Bharat' empties the pockets of ordinary Indians and fills the coffers of select billionaires!" he added.