Ahead of the polls in five states, the Congress has targetted the Centre over unemployment and the state of economy. Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Thursday raised the question of growing unemployment and said it was just a 'jumla' for the Modi government.In a tweet, Sibal said, "Modiji said (2019): India will be a $5trillion economy by 2022$1trillion (agriculture) $1trillion (manufacturing), Modiji promised : 2crore jobs every year Farmers income to double by 2022."The Congress has been targeting the Modi government and has alleged that the household income of 84 per cent Indians has reduced.The party had alleged that due to the Centres 'bad economic policy, unemployment rate in the country has gone up to 7 per cent, wholesale inflation rose to 13.56 per cent, rupee fell to 74+ against the US dollar, income of 84 per cent households declined in 2021 while the wealth of some individuals multiplied nine times'.
The Congress demanded that corporate tax was slashed from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, similar relief should be provided to the middle and lower-income groups.
The party demanded that the government should reduce petrol and diesel prices by Rs 25 per litre, while GST rates on essential items should be either exempted or rationalised as high rates on these items are 'regressive'.Addressing a virtual press conference, Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh had said, "The income of 84 per cent of the households in the country declined in 2021, but at the same time the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142 (39 per cent growth)."The richest 98 Indians own the same wealth as the bottom 55.2 crore people. During the first two waves of the pandemic, the wealth of Indian billionaires increased from Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore. This growth in the wealth of billionaires (Rs 30.02 lakh crore) is 86 per cent of the Union Budget for FY 21-22 (Rs 34.83 lakh crore)."