Rahul Gandhi often criticises the centre's policies on social media.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited India's rising unemployment rate to take potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that his monument of "incompetence" was scaling new heights with each month spent in power.
"With each passing month, the Modi Minar races upwards at a breathtaking pace; a monument dedicated to incompetence," Rahul Gandhi tweeted along with a graphical comparison of unemployment in the months of September and October. The post was hashtagged #ModiMandiAurMusibat.
The figures -- 8.5% in October as compared to 7.2% in September -- were drawn from a report released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMID) on November 1. The report also termed this as the steepest climb in unemployment rate since August 2016.
The country's infrastructure output also fell by 5.2% in September as compared to the same month in 2018, its worst performance in years, government data showed. Its industrial output, on the other hand, shrank at its fastest rate in over six years in August.
Although months have passed since Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of Congress president, he still takes to Twitter on occasion to comment on policy decisions adopted by the Narendra Modi government. A few days ago, he had warned the centre against joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) along with 15 other nations, claiming that doing so will make the situation worse at a time when "Make in India" has already turned into "Buy from China".
"'Make in India' has become 'Buy from China'. Each year, we import Rs 6,000 worth of goods from China for every Indian! A 100 per cent increase since 2014," the former Congress chief said in a tweet. "RCEP will flood India with cheap goods, resulting in millions of job losses and crippling the Indian economy."
Last month, he denounced the centre's decision to merge nationalised telecom firms MTNL and BSNL, alleging that it was just the first step towards selling it off. "Step 1: Merge, Step 2: Mismanage, Step 3: Show Mega Losses, Step 4: Sell Cheap to Crony Capitalist," he claimed.
The tweet was a jibe at Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's explanation that the merger was part of a four-step plan aimed at reviving the two companies. The centre has also announced a fund infusion of Rs 29,937 crore to make the two firms more competitive.
Even Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee expressed concern over the country's economic slowdown last month, advising the government to announce policies only after careful evaluation of their pros and cons. The world-renowned economist has criticised the government's demonetisation and GST policies on many occasions in the past.
(With inputs from Agencies)