The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of spreading "negativity" and undermining India's achievements, claiming that his repeated predictions of an economic "doom" have been belied by India's economic performance.
The remarks came amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a meeting with secretaries of all central ministries on Tuesday evening. The meeting is expected to cover reform initiatives to improve the ease of living and ease of doing business.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla described Gandhi as a "nawab of negativity, champion of cynicism and purveyor of propaganda".
"In his hatred for Modi and the BJP, he hates Bharat. He spills and spews venom against Bharat's democratic institutions, economic performance and military might. On every occasion, he says that an economic tsunami is going to hit India," Poonawalla said in a video statement.
"Far from that, India has been able to withstand the headwinds caused by the Iran-Israel-America crisis. Despite three challenging circumstances -- Covid, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iran-Israel-America war -- India has become the fastest-growing large economy in the world with a 7.7-7.8 per cent growth rate," he said.
Highlighting the Modi government's economic agenda, Poonawalla said the prime minister has championed and pushed the reform express ahead. Today, it is a government of reform, perform and transform, he added.
"From GST reforms to direct tax reforms, all these reforms are centred on the citizen and businesses. It is a citizen-centric approach.
"Today, it is D for deregulation, D for decentralisation, D for diversification, D for democratisation and D for digitalisation. This reform express has ensured that India goes ahead with Gati towards Pragati. It has gone from red tape to red carpet," Poonawalla said.
He alleged that Gandhi and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had projected India's growth at "not more than five per cent", but the economy has outperformed those estimates.
"Despite so many supply chain constraints, India maintained inflation at around 4.5-5% on average. Today, we have the highest exports.
"We have the highest foreign exchange reserves, which were just $200 billion earlier and are now in excess of $700 billion. We have the highest GST collections, the highest automobile sales and the highest industrial production," he said.
Alleging that Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, "takes contracts from Soros", the BJP leader said, "He undermines every achievement of Bharat and tries to create a situation of doom and gloom. But once again, his lies have come crashing down in front of the data that speaks louder than his fake words and his negative propaganda."
Backing BJP president Nitin Nabin's criticism of Gandhi's overseas visits, Poonawalla, in another video statement, alleged that the Congress leader spends more time abroad than with his party workers and the people of India.
"Nitin Nabin ji is absolutely right. Rahul Gandhi is a part-time politician and a full-time anti-India spokesperson. Even today, he is not with his party workers or the people of India. He is in paryatan mode.
"The LoP has become the 'Leader of Vacations'. He takes vacations, and between two vacations, he comes to India for a brief period. He is constantly in vacation mode," Poonawalla alleged.