PM's new year resolutions nothing short of 'jumlas' destroying lives of people: Kharge

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new year resolutions are nothing short of 'jumlas' (rhetoric) destroying the lives of every citizen.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the government has given no solution for the economic turmoil created by it as he cited seven indicators to substantiate his point.

"The Modi government has no solution for the economic turmoil it has created! Seven indicators that illustrate the extent of mess in the lives of ordinary Indians.

"50 percent increase in Gold Loans and 30 per cent jump in gold loan NPAs. Private consumption - the total value of goods and services purchased by households has slowed down in the last 8 quarters and has not recovered to pre-COVID levels," he said in his post.

Kharge said car sales growth has plunged to a four-year low and wages have grown at a compound annual rate of just 0.8 per cent in the engineering, manufacturing, process, and infrastructure (EMPI) sectors in the past 5 years (2019-2023).

Food inflation, he said, has averaged 7.1 per cent over the last eight quarters. Indirect taxation in the form of GST on essential items are depleting household savings which are at a 50-year low, the Congress chief claimed.

"Household financial liabilities are now 6.4 per cent of GDP – the highest in decades. Rupee has hit all-time low, forcing foreign fund outflows and loss to small investors worth lakhs of crores.

"Narendra Modi ji, Your annual 'New Year Resolutions' have been nothing short of 'jumlas' destroying the lives of every citizen," Kharge alleged.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said according to the RBI, the income of Indian families is continuously decreasing and the number of borrowers is increasing.

"Due to falling income, it is becoming difficult to repay the loan, as a result, gold loans increased by 56 per cent in the first 7 months of the current financial year, but gold loan default increased by 30 per cent.

"According to the World Inequality Database, economic inequality has increased more during the BJP rule than during the British rule. More than half of the country's wealth is owned by one percent of the rich," she said in a post in Hindi on X.

Vadra claimed that private consumption has fallen for the last eight quarters and household savings are at a 50-year low and jobs have been declining continuously since demonetisation and this trend is continuing.

The burden of indirect taxes on middle and lower income groups has increased inflation, due to which common people are not able to support their families, she said.

Quoting former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, she said, "Countries do not rise by a few people sitting on high chairs, countries rise when crores of people are happy and progress." "The Prime Minister gave many slogans like '20 million jobs annually', '5 trillion dollar economy', 'Vishwaguru' and 'New Year resolutions', but in reality his economic wrong policies have weakened crores of countrymen," the Congress leader said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also alleged the government is responsible for "stealing" mangalsutras from women due to rise in default on gold loans in the country because of its cronyism, erratic policies and warped priorities.

Ramesh said that people are defaulting on at least 30 per cent of gold loans and claimed women are losing their gold, including mangalsutras.

"The Modi Government's rampant cronyism, erratic policymaking, and warped priorities have earned it the dubious distinction of being the only Government in the history of Independent India to steal mangalsutras from women," Ramesh said on X.

"At a time when the non-biological PM was scaremongering about some imagined plot to steal 'Mangalsutras', we had raised the issue of the rapid rise in gold loans during his tenure," he said in his post.