The Congress has stepped up its attack against the Centre on the overall situation in the country and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step up and take responsibility to tackle the slowdown.

“Why is he silent and hiding?” asked party spokesperson and MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi here on Wednesday.

Citing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s reported statement that the slowdown in the automobile sector was due to many factors including people’s preference for taxi services, Singhvi said it reflected the inefficiency, immaturity, and inexperience of the BJP in governance.

‘The new normal’

“The gross over statement made by the Finance Minister is a grave joke on the poor state of the economy,” Singhvi said. “It implies that the dip in the GDP has become the ‘new normal’ for the BJP.. She must self-expunge her remarks and apologies from the nation,” Singhvi demanded.

“Mobile app-based car booking systems did not emerge at once. They have been in the country for almost a decade now. Indeed, app-based car booking is not a new trend that is responsible for the death of the new car market. The slowdown in the automobile industry did not come all of a sudden. Sales have fallen in 12 of the 13 months since July 2018,” Singhvi claimed.

Singhvi also cited the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which said automobile sales fell 31 per cent to 200,790 vehicles in July 2019 from 290,931 in July 2018. “The slowdown in the automobile industry did not come all of a sudden. The 31 per cent fall in sales is also the ninth straight drop in monthly passenger vehicle sales. Sales have fallen in 12 of the 13 months since July 2018, underscoring the sharp slowdown in demand in the world’s fourth-largest automobile market,” he said.

“Why the Finance Minister is more interested in cracking jokes and finding excuses instead of putting-in efforts to bring the economy on track? How will India be able to become a $5-trillion economy with such a slowdown?” he asked.

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