The Indian National Congress has been unsparing in its criticism of the BJP government as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday assailed the Modi Government and said that the economy is falling into a 'deep abyss' of recession and wondered when will the government 'open its eyes'. Gandhi took to Twitter and expressed her distress stating, "The economy is falling into a deep abyss of recession. The sword is hanging on the livelihood of lakhs of Indians".

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Negative growth in production and transportation

Priyanka Gandhi further asserted that the decline in the auto sector was a sign of negative growth in production-transportation and the declining confidence of the market.

This is not the first time that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemned the government on the same; earlier this week, she took to Twitter and had slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government as the truck sales in August fell by nearly 60%. She opined that there was a news item about the recession every day and further attacked the central government for maintaining silence on the issue. 

READ | Priyanka Gandhi slams Centre on economy; cites truck sales decline

Causes for the plunge 

The downturn in the economy is touted as a pivotal reason affecting the sale of trucks as the economy grew at only 5% in the June quarter, being the slowest in years. There has also been a slump in consumption. However, the Centre recently came up with 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 initiation of the scrappage policy and the reduction in the Good and Services Tax (GST) rates on vehicles from present 28% to 18%.

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BJP's take on the Economic Slowdown

Union Cabinet Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was recently in Jaipur to highlight the achievements of 100 days of the BJP-led NDA government and said that the Central Government had taken steps to alleviate the impact of a global economic slowdown.
He stated -

"The entire world is passing through the phase of an economic slowdown. We are on the top of the list of the best performing countries. The government has taken steps and measures to provide economic relief. The merger of banks and relief to the manufacturing and automobile sectors are such steps."

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(With Inputs from PTI)