india

Updated: Sep 20, 2019 16:58 IST

On a day Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman slashed corporate tax causing the Sensex to spiral past 2000 points, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Howdy, Modi!’ programme in the US.

After Nirmala Sitharaman cut corporate tax rates for domestic firms from 30% to 22% and for new manufacturing companies from 25% to 15%, Indian shares surged more than 5% and were set for their best day in more than a decade equities. She also got a pat on the back from PM Modi, who praised the finance minister as a ‘win-win for 130 crore Indians’.

Rahul Gandhi seemed to suggest in his tweet that the government’s latest step to lift the sagging economy was just an eyewash.

“Amazing what PM is ready to do for a stock market bump during his #HowdyIndianEconomy jamboree. At + 1.4 Lakh Crore Rs. the Houston event is the world’s most expensive event, ever!” Rahul Gandhi posted.

“But, no event can hide the reality of the economic mess “HowdyModi” has driven India into,” he said.

Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement was the latest in a slew of measures announced by the government in the past few weeks to provide a booster dose to growth that has fallen to a six-year low of 5% in June quarter.

The Indian economy has been suffering from weak consumer demand with car sales in the world’s number four automobile market plunging 41% in August, the worst monthly fall on record.

The former Congress president has already taken a swipe at the PM on September 18 by raising the issue of the state of the economy and said it seems that it is not in good shape.

“Howdy economy, Mr Modi? Ain’t so good it seems,” Rahul Gandhi had tweeted then.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 5% in the quarter ended June, the slowest pace of growth since March 2013 (4.7%). The GDP growth has been declining for five consecutive quarters now. This is only the first time since 1997 that India had five consecutive quarters of declining GDP growth.

Prime Minister Modi will address a mega gathering of Indian-Americans at the sold-out “Howdy, Modi!” event in US’ Houston, Texas, on September 22. He will be joined by US President Donald Trump.

More than 50,000 Indian-Americans from across the United States have registered for the ‘Howdy, Modi! Shared Dreams, Bright Futures’ event, which will be held at the sprawling NRG Stadium in Houston.