Centre has no understanding of economy: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Saturday that the BJP-led government has "no understanding" of the country's economy and advised it to focus on core issues instead of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and NRC.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day National Tax Conference-2020 here, he said, "The present central government has no understanding about the economy. Prices have been rising in the country because of the policies of the government."

He also said that even Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's husband has stated that the state of economy in the country was not good and the government has no understanding of the economy.

In a newspaper article published on October 14, Sitharaman''s husband Prabhakar had taken a swipe at the BJP-led government over its economic vision and asked it to embrace the economic architecture offered by Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.

Targeting BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah, who held a huge rally here on Friday launching an "awareness programme" over the amended Citizenship Act, Gehlot said, "He came here for awareness but for what? The prices of petrol and diesel and onions have been increasing in the country."

He said that securing a majority was not always everything in a democracy and the government also needed to keep in mind the voice of the people.

Addressing the tax practitioners and experts in the conference, he called upon them to work together for bolstering the economy.

"The country has been reeling under the phase of poor economy. Such phases keep coming and going. The efforts of improvement in GDP are imperative in such a situation and tax persons have a key role in it," Gehlot said.