Opposition BJP and the Left parties came together on Thursday to lash out at the economic policies of the UPA government saying that economic fundamentals were under threat and the reforms process was widening the gap between “shining” and “suffering” India.

“The entire thrust of the Economic Survey is to encourage FDI or pursue the PPP (public-private partnership) route. This sort of economic process, which brought about discrepancies between rich and poor, will lead the Indian economy to greater disaster,” CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.

Echoing the same views BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said growth rate was slowing down and the inflation rate was on the rise due to the faulty economic policies of the government.

“Government should take immediate steps to correct these anomalies and these should be reflected in the budget itself,” he said. Maintaining that the divide between the “shining” and “suffering” India was growing further, Mr Yechury said such policy recipes “cannot sustain long-term economic growth”.

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta also said the economic reform policies would “not take the country forward. None of the economic fundamentals are found to be right”.

Both leaders referred to the Economic Survey figures to show that the rate of growth of agricultural and industrial sectors, as well as per capita income and consumption, had shown a considerable decline and the GDP growth was much less than what was projected.

The government has been projecting a GDP growth of close to nine per cent for the current fiscal. According to the latest figures released by the Central Statistical Organisation, the economic growth is likely to be 8.7 per cent in 2007-08.

“A gap of one percentage point (between FY’07 and FY’08 growth) amounts to almost Rs one lakh crore. This itself shows a serious mismatch,” Yechury said.

On the other hand, Dasgupta said there was a major concentration of wealth in a few hands with 535 families possessing average income and wealth of over Rs 100 crore.

Yechury said that despite painting a “rosy picture”, the Survey document showed “very serious problems with the economic fundamentals of the country”.

While the agriculture and industry sectors showed a decline, only the services sector has shown a rise. “This proves that the rest of the sectors have shown a negative growth, which is very ominous,” he said.

The CPM leader said that due to rupee appreciation, there had been a decline in exports which has led to a “grave” trade deficit.