Congress Party's Rahul Gandhi Says 'India Looks a Lot Like Sri Lanka' in Dig at BJP Government

India’s wholesale inflation increased to 15.08 percent in April from 14.55 percent in March due to skyrocketing prices of fuel and other commodities. Opposition parties have been hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) federal government over the rising inflation.

Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government for the state of the Indian economy while comparing the country to crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

In order to substantiate his claim, he shared a graph comparing the two countries on a number of indicators, which appeared similar when it came to unemployment, fuel prices, and communal violence.

Congress Parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi Takes a Swipe at Federal Government over State of Economy in India

© Photo : Twitter/@RahulGandhi

The graph shared by the former Congress party chief shows unemployment rising in both countries from 2017 and peaking in 2020.

Another figure in the graph compared the fuel prices in the two countries. It shows that fuel prices in India as well as Sri Lanka have been on the rise since 2017 and soared in 2021.

The last figure in the graph indicates a sharp increase in incidents of communal violence in 2020-2021 in India and the neighbouring island nation.

On Monday, Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying the country's economy, which he said was "strengthened" by the former United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by Congress.

He also accused Prime Minister Modi and the BJP of seeking to create two Indias, one for the rich, and the other for the poor and underprivileged.

According to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) last week, the retail inflation in the country surged to a near 8-year high of 7.79 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade's (DPIIT) data released on Tuesday showed that the wholesale inflation in the country rose to 15.08 percent in April, compared to 14.55 percent in March.

Food article inflation in April stood at 8.35 percent, compared to 8.06 percent in March, while fuel and power basket inflation rose to 38.66 percent, from 34.52 percent.

Sri Lanka is witnessing its harshest economic crisis since gaining independence from British rule in 1948. The dire economic situation has mainly been caused by a shortage of foreign currency, as tourism was hit immensely because of COVID-19.

There is an acute shortage of food and basic necessities, including fuel and gas, with many parts of the island nation facing continuous power blackouts. Sri Lanka’s external debt is estimated at $51 billion. Thousands of people have been protesting against the government over the economic woes.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to step down following violent clashes between anti- and pro-government demonstrators and protesters' demands for his resignation.

Leader of the United National Party Ranil Wickremesinghe succeeded Rajapaksa shortly thereafter.