Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 31: The senior Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s latching on the United States President Donald Trump’s remark of India’s “dead economy” to attack the Narendra Modi government on Thursday backfired with not only the BJP hitting him out, but even some of his party colleagues and allies in the opposition INDIA bloc clearly disagreed with him about the state of the Indian economy.
Mr Gandhi’s endorsement of Trump’s remarks provided the BJP a political opportunity to counter the Opposition’s attacks. Senior BJP leader and the party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the Congress leader hit a new low by echoing Trump’s “dead economy” jibe, terming it a “shameful insult to the aspirations, achievements, and well-being of the Indian people.”
“But let’s be honest – the only thing truly “dead” here is Rahul Gandhi’s own political credibility and legacy. Even amidst global slowdown, India remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with the IMF and World Bank revising growth projections upwards,” he said, adding, “This is not a dead economy. This is a surging, resilient India.” “Who is Rahul Gandhi really speaking for? Why does he repeat foreign propaganda that undermines India?” Mr Malviya added.
Mr Gandhi had attacked the Modi government over 25% tariff imposed on Indian goods by the US. When asked to comment on Trump’s dead economy remark, Rahul Gandhi said, “Yes, he is right. Everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. Everybody knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact… The entire world knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. BJP has finished the economy to help Adani…”
Gandhi further alleged that the BJP government has destroyed India’s economic, defence and foreign policy. “PM Modi works only for one person- Adani. This (India-US trade) deal will take place, and PM Modi will do exactly what Trump says,” he said.
“Foreign Minister gives a speech and says that we have a genius foreign policy. On one hand, America is abusing you; on the other hand, China is behind you. When you send your delegation to the world, no country condemns Pakistan. How are they running this country? There is total confusion… He (PM Modi in his speech) did not take the name of Trump, China… The military chief of Pakistan who did this Pahalgam attack, President Trump is having lunch with him, and they are saying we had a huge success,” he added.
While Mr Gandhi endorsed Trump’s remarks and used them to slam the Centre, his senior party colleagues Shashi Tharoor and Rajiv Shukla pointed to the strength of the Indian economy, with Mr Tharoor stressing that New Delhi must not cave in to Washington DC’s unreasonable demands. Priyanka Chaturvedi, a key opposition voice and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, has also slammed Trump and said such a claim can “only come from a position of arrogance or ignorance.”
A day after announcing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from India, Trump dropped a bombshell on Thursday. Hitting out at India and Russia, he has said he did not care about New Delhi’s dealings with Moscow and that the two “can take their dead economies down together.” “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Shortly after, Mr Gandhi told reporters at Parliament that he agreed with the US President. “He is right, everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact.” Accusing the Prime Minister of “killing” the economy, Mr Gandhi blamed demonetisation, a “flawed” GST for the situation. Taking a swipe, Mr Gandhi said “Assemble in India” — a play on Make in India — had failed and MSMEs “wiped out” and “farmers crushed.”
Mr Tharoor, whose remarks on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, have drawn snubs from the Congress leadership, took a different stand than Mr Gandhi on Trump’s remark. Stressing that the ongoing trade talks between the US and India were “challenging,” he said, “We have ongoing negotiations with the EU, we already concluded a deal with the UK, and we are talking with other countries also. If we can’t compete in America, we may have to diversify our markets outside of America. We are not out of options.”
The Thiruvananthapuram MP also said India must “move elsewhere” if the US is “completely unreasonable” with its demands. “That is the strength of India; we are not a totally export-dependent economy like China. We have a good and strong domestic market. We must give strong support to our negotiators to find the best deal possible. If a good deal is not possible, we may have to walk away.”
Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla said Trump’s statement was “completely wrong.” “Our economic condition is not at all weak. If someone claims they can finish us economically, it’s likely due to a misunderstanding. Trump is living in a delusion,” he said.
“The Indian economy is not dead. Economic reforms were made when PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh were there. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took those reforms forward. Manmohan Singh strengthened it in the 10 years. The current government has also worked on it. Our economic condition is not at all weak. If someone claims they can finish us economically, it’s likely due to a misunderstanding. Trump is living in a delusion,” Mr Shukla said.
“Imposing tariffs is wrong. Every nation has the right to trade with the nation it wants. Restricting them, speaking against the BRICS, speaking against trade and import from Russia, this is not right…” On the US-Pakistan oil deal, Mr Shukla said, “Their oil deal with Pakistan doesn’t concern us. No country can dictate who we can or cannot do business with.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, a prominent Opposition leader, said there was enough data to know that the Indian economy was among the top five in the world. “Calling it a dead economy can only come from a position of arrogance or ignorance,” she said on X. In another post, she said that while India has economic challenges and needs to work on per capita income, its economic challenges “do not equate to a dead economy”. She said Trump’s statement is clearly a tactic to close a deal.
BJP leader K Annamalai drew a Shashi Tharoor-Rahul Gandhi comparison. “I came across remarks by two Congress leaders on the same topic today. One spoke for India’s Interest, and the other spoke in a tone that would please his offshore masters,” he said. “When the world acknowledges India as the only bright spot on an otherwise dark horizon, here is the leader of the opposition who feels otherwise. LoP Thiru Rahul Gandhi continues to wear ignorance like a badge of honour. He is blind to India’s rise, yet ever eager to echo foreign voices that undermine it,” he said.
Mr Malviya in his statement pointed out that key economic indicators showed robust India’s growth, with inflation at a 6-year low, tractor retail sales up 8.7% in June, three-wheeler production rising 8.6%, air cargo increasing by 8.1% and port cargo by 5.6%. Additionally, steel consumption grew 7.9%, renewable electricity generation surged 18.2%, crude steel rose 12.2%, finished steel by 12.5%, tractor production climbed 9.8%, cement production was up 7%, and capital goods output (IIP) jumped 14.1% in May 2025.
