'National interest lies in listening to Manmohan's advice': Shiv Sena to BJP on economy

Mumbai: A day after the Centre dismissed former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s remark over handling of the economy, Shiv Sena hit out at the Modi-led BJP government and asked to pay heed to Singh’s warning and not indulge in politics over it.

Shiv Sena in its editorial mouthpiece said: “National interest lies in listening to Manmohan Singh's advice. There should be no politics around the economic slowdown. Kashmir and economic slowdown are two different issues. The economy is in doldrums.”

“A sane man like Manmohan has said that no politics should be played around this slowdown. We should take the help of experts and overcome it. It is time we heard his advice,” Sena added.

On Sunday, in a video statement, Manmohan Singh had called the state of the economy “deeply worrying”, and said the last quarter’s GDP growth rate of 5 per cent signals that “we are in the midst of a prolonged slowdown”.

However, on Tuesday the government rebuffed Singh's criticism and said it does not subscribe to his analysis as India has now become the world's fifth-largest economy from 11th during his time.

According to data released by the government on Friday, India's quarterly GDP has come down to 5 per cent as compared to 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of the financial year.