HYDERABAD: TRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao on Wednesday blasted the BJP government in Rajya Sabha over the issue of the economic slowdown. While comparing the economic situation that prevailed in the UPA regime with that of NDA rule, he refuted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s point of view.
Participating in the debate on the economic slowdown, he said: “We do not want it to be some kind of a political debate at all. We will make it purely economics. When I say, ‘economics’, it is statistics, it is facts and figures, not sentiments.
I can understand your aberration with 2008. But it had gone down. But in 2008, we did not close any industries at all nor did we send the people out. In 2009, we recouped, while the world did not do it. Anyhow I am not holding a brief on behalf of the UPA today,” he said.
“I would like to say that everybody is agreeing that there is a slowdown.
I would not have agreed, at least, for the sake of our finance minister and think that it is cyclical slowdown and within few years, we will recoup and we will do better.
But there has been a consistent slowdown in the last eight quarters, tell me that if I am wrong, and it is nothing but slowdown which everybody is saying,” Keshava Rao said.
Keshava Rao said that the income of 10 per cent of people had increased by 63 per cent while the income of 90 per cent of people went down to minus four. “While I am not holding a brief for the UPA, we find a slowdown in investments during the NDA regime, which has fallen to 26 per cent from 30 per cent under the UPA.
Now, farm growth fell to less than three per cent from over four per cent in UPA. A year-on-year comparison of agricultural growth shows a marked decline since the 2016-17.
You could have done better, but the poor monsoons have affected farm growth. We understand that but what did you do for that? What kind of corrective measures did you bring forth in the Budget?” Keshava Rao asked.
He said that the rural economy came down to such a level that even talking about it had become some kind of a shame on our part. “We have to hang our heads in shame because it has come down to just 1.2 per cent now from two per cent,” Keshava Rao said.