india

Updated: Nov 03, 2019 02:43 IST

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will deal a “body blow” to the economy and result in “untold hardships” for farmers, shopkeepers and small enterprises.

Addressing a meeting of general secretaries, heads of frontal organisations and senior leaders at the party headquarters in Delhi, Sonia Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being busy “managing headlines and events” instead of acknowledging the “severe slowdown” in the economy and looking for a comprehensive resolution.

“...it pains me to see the Indian economy under siege. What is even more worrying is that the government is in complete denial,” the Congress president said. “The cavalier attitude comes at a price, a price that millions of our fellow Indian, especially the unemployed youth and farmers are having to endure. As if economic decisions have not damaged the economy enough, it is now ready to deal a body blow to it by signing RCEP,” she said.

The party has also decided to launch a 10-day nationwide agitation against RCEP (a regional free trade agreement of 16 Asian countries), economic slowdown, agrarian distress and unemployment on November 5.

Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the party will hold a mega rally in Delhi in December on these issues. It will be addressed by Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Sonia Gandhi said the consistent weakening of institutions, withholding of data and tampering with statistics have all resulted in the “erosion” of India’s economic credibility.

“It is unfortunate that economic experts who point this out are ridiculed and labelled anti-nationals...,” she said.

The party has called a meeting of other opposition parties on Monday to seek their support on its nationwide programme.

Reacting to Sonia Gandhi’s statement, Union minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji has suddenly woken up to RCEP and FTAs. So where was she when trade deficit with RCEP nations increased from $7 billion in 2004 to $78 billion in 2014? When her govt forced India to join RCEP negotiations with China in 2011-12.”