Celebration over GDP an attempt to hide government's poor show: Cong

The Congress on Thursday termed the Modi government's celebration over the improvement in GDP numbers a desperate attempt to hide its "luminous under performance".

"Happy that the July-Sep quarter has registered a growth rate of 6.3%. This is a pause in the declining trend of the last five quarters. But we cannot say now whether this will mark an upward trend in the growth rate," former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said. However, he was quick to add that 6.3% growth was far below the promise of the Modi government and "far below the potential of a well-managed economy".

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said a closer scrutiny of GDP numbers revealed serious weaknesses in the Indian economy affecting all sectors.

The Congress, which has made desperate attempts to keep the focus of the campaign on demonetisation and "faulty" implementation of GST, apprehends that the BJP would wave GDP numbers in Gujarat to claim that all was well with the economy.