Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat: India needs certificate from the country and people are saying Modi, Jaitley have failed

Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat: India needs certificate from the country and people are saying Modi, Jaitley have failed

On a campaign tour of Gujarat, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attacked the government, saying there is no ease of doing business in India. He also hit out at PM Narendra Modi over black money and said demonetisation had destroyed the economy.





Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during a road show in Gujarat’s Bharuch district on Wednesday. (PTI)


Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and finance minister Arun Jaitley sparred on Wednesday over whether it had become easier to do business in India, a day after a key World Bank index showed that business climate had improved in the country.

Gandhi targeted the finance minister , saying the “entire country will shout to say that there is no ease of doing business in India”. He was addressing a public rally in Gujarat, which goes to the polls in December.

Within the hour, Jaitley retorted on Twitter: “The difference between the UPA and NDA- The ease of doing corruption has been replaced by the ease of doing business.”

In its Ease of Doing Business report for 2018, an annual 190-country assessment of competitiveness, the world Bank said India had for the first time jumped a record 30 places into the top 100 .

The report comes as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government that has been battling a negative narrative around the economy which has slowed to a three-year low of 5.7% in the quarter ended June. It will also help blunt political criticism ahead of elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, which votes on November 9.

On the first day of his three-day campaign tour of south Gujarat, Gandhi also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of black money and said demonetisation had destroyed the country’s economy.