India's economy is doing well despite global meltdown: Sitharaman
What's the story
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated in Parliament on Thursday that the Indian economy is doing well despite the global meltdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, Sitharaman highlighted that India is among the world's fastest-growing economies and alleged that while the opposition made promises, the BJP government delivered.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The finance minister's remarks came during the third day of the no-confidence motion debate in Parliament.
The opposition accused the saffron brigade-led central government of evading discussions on the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and moved the no-confidence motion to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the issue.
PM Modi is scheduled to reply to the motion in the Lok Sabha at 4:00pm.
Details
In just nine years, economy rose and saw development: Sitharaman
During her address in Parliament, Sitharaman said, "In 2013, Morgan Stanley had included India in the list of five fragile economies of the world. Today, the same Morgan Stanley upgraded India and gave it a higher rating."
"In just nine years, the economy rose and saw economic development due to the policies of our government - despite COVID-19," ANI quoted her saying.
More details
Sitharaman flags World Bank's prediction
On the World Bank's prediction that the global economy would decline to 2.1% in 2023, she added, "The United Kingdom is seeing very tough times; the United States (US) and China are big economies as well, but see the challenges they are facing."
"Germany's economy has also come down. A strong economy like China is also in trouble today," stated Sitharaman.
Twitter Post
You can watch Sitharaman's address here
#WATCH | No Confidence Motion discussion | Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman says, "Words like 'banega, milega' are not in use anymore. What are the people using these days? 'Ban gaye, mil gaye, aa gaye'. During UPA, people said 'Bijli aayegi', now people say 'Bijli aa gayi'. They said… pic.twitter.com/SLVPqbBOlL
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2023
Know more
Sitharaman attacks Congress during address in Parliament
She also attacked the Congress by bringing up the "garibi hatao" slogan of the then government headed by Indira Gandhi, and questioned if poverty could realistically be removed.
"PM Modi has changed this completely. There is a transformation in our governance," said Sitharaman and asserted that words like "milega" (will get) have been replaced by the public with terms like "mil gaya" (got it).
Further information
Modi to reply to no-confidence motion today: Details
In a major development, the prime minister will reportedly reply to the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Thursday at 4:00pm.
The motion will also be put to a vote later in the day.
Out of the total 27 no-confidence motions, only three governments have fallen during a vote on a "motion of confidence."