Dinakar attacks Oppn. over ‘misleading’ GDP growth claims

Lanka Dinakar, the head of the 20 Points Programme (Viksit Bharat – Swarna Andhra Pradesh), recently took aim at the opposition parties for their portrayal of India's 7.8% GDP growth as 2.6%. The chairman of the program denounced the tactic as "political propaganda" and accused Congress leaders, their supporters, Left sympathizers, and anyone ideologically opposed to the Narendra Modi government of misleading the public through statistical manipulation.

According to Dinakar, combining the old 2011-12 GDP series with the new 2022-23 series to represent official growth of 7.8% as 2.6% is scientifically invalid. He argued that to accurately calculate growth, a single GDP series, a single base year, consistent methodology, and comparable prices must be used. Dinakar emphasized that the decision to select 2022-23 as the new base year was not a political choice, but a recommendation by the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics after thorough examination of various years, including the implementation of GST, the impact of COVID-19, and the post-COVID recovery.

He pointed out the significant progress India's economy has made in areas like manufacturing, the digital economy, e-commerce, financial services, infrastructure, technology, and business formalization. Dinakar challenged Congress and the Left to present their data, methodology, evidence, and calculations if they believe the 2.6% growth claim is accurate.