On economic slowdown, Shiv Sena advises Modi to 'Listen to Manmohan Singh'

Mumbai, Sep 04: A day after the Centre rebuffed former prime minister Manmohan Singh's criticism over the handling of the economy, BJP ally Shiva Sena hit out at the Narendra Modi government and asked to pay heed to Singh's warning and not indulge in politics over it.

"National interest lies in listening to Manmohan Singh's advice. There should be no politics around the economic slowdown. Kashmir and economic slowdown are two different issues. The economy is in doldrums," Shiv Sena said in its editorial mouthpiece Saamana.

"A sane man like Manmohan has said that no politics should be played around this slowdown. We should take the help of experts and overcome it. It is time we heard his advice," Sena added.

In a video, Singh had said that the state of the economy was "deeply worrying" and urged the government to put aside "vendetta politics" and reach out to sane voices and thinking minds to steer the economy out of this "man-made crisis". The Congress leader said "all-round mismanagement" by the Modi government was responsible for the slowdown.

"The state of the economy today is deeply worrying. The last quarter's GDP growth rate of 5 per cent signals that we are in the midst of a prolonged slowdown. India has the potential to grow at a much faster rate but all-round mismanagement by the Modi government has resulted in this slow down," he said in a statement.

Targeting the government, Singh said the country's youth, farmers and farm workers, entrepreneurs and the marginalised sections deserve better. India cannot afford to continue down this path, he said, adding, "I urge the government to put aside vendetta politics, and reach out to all sane voices and thinking minds, to steer our economy out of this man-made crisis." Singh said it is particularly distressing that the manufacturing sector's growth is tottering at 0.6 per cent.

However, the government said it does not subscribe to his analysis as India has now become the world's fifth-largest economy from 11th during his time. "We do not subscribe to what Manmohan Singh has analysed...India was 11th (largest) economy of the world. Now it is fifth and we are marching to be third," I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures, including to boost liquidity in the NBFC sector, to push economic growth.

India's deepening slowdown has now left the economy on the verge of stalling. The latest estimates for GDP show year-on-year growth in the April-June period slid for a fifth straight quarter to 5%, the slowest pace in more than six years.

The growth of 5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20 is yet another downfall from the 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19, which had pushed India behind China, due to poor showing by agriculture and manufacturing sectors.