Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre as the truck sales in August fell by nearly 60%. She opined that there was a news item about recession every day. She further added that the government continued to maintain silence on it. Vadra observed that both these aspects were very dangerous. Moreover, the Congress leader contended that the government neither had any solution nor did it have the strength to reassure the people of the country. Mere talk, giving excuses and spreading rumours would not work, she observed. 

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Truck sales decline in August 

The sales of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles suffered a higher, double-digit slump in sales in the month of August. This is considered as one of the important barometers of the economy. The overall volume at India’s top commercial vehicles makers - Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Volvo Eicher and Mahindra & Mahindra declined by 59.5% to 31,067 units in comparison to August last year. Tata Motors that produces Tata Prima trucks and Tata Ultra trucks fell by 45% to 21,824 units. Similarly, Ashok Leyland produced only 8,296 units in contrast to 16,628 units in the same month, last year showing a fall of 50%.  

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Possible causes for the slump

The slowdown in the economy is touted as a crucial reason affecting the sale of trucks. The Indian economy grew at only 5% in the June quarter, which is the slowest in over 6 years. Secondly, there has been a slump in consumption too. While the Centre recently rolled out a slew of measures to boost the ailing automobile industry including lifting the ban on government departments to purchase new vehicles, the industry has been demanding more reforms such as reduction in the Good and Services Tax (GST) rates and initiation of the scrappage policy.  

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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s attack on the BJP 

The Congress leader has been unsparing in her criticism of both the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) government and the Centre. She recently criticized the UP government for increasing the electricity tariffs by 12%. Furthermore, Vadra lamented the incompetence of the government to even acknowledge the crisis in the economy. She had also accused the Centre of looting the Reserve Bank of India.

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