Dinakar attacks Oppn. over “misleading” claims about GDP growth

20 Point Program (Viksit Bharat – Swarna Andhra Pradesh) chairman Lanka Dinakar on Saturday criticized opposition parties for portraying the country’s 7.8% GDP growth as 2.6%, calling it “political propaganda”.

He said that combining the old 2011-12 GDP series with the new 2022-23 series to show the official 7.8% GDP growth as 2.6% is intended to mislead the public.

He criticized Congress leaders, its supporters, Left sympathizers and those ideologically opposed to the Narendra Modi government for creating “confusion among the public” in the name of statistics.

“Growth must be calculated on the basis of one GDP series, single base year, consistent methodology and comparable prices. Taking the 2025-26 figure from the 2011-12 series and the 2026-27 figure from the 2022-23 series and presenting the difference between them as actual GDP growth is not scientifically valid,” he said.

Mr Dinakar said the selection of 2022-23 as the new base year was not a political decision but a recommendation by the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics after examining various years.

He noted that the committee took into account factors such as the implementation of GST, the impact of COVID-19 and the exceptional recovery after COVID before considering 2022-23 as a relatively normal year.

India’s economy has seen significant changes between 2011–12 and 2026. He said the country has made significant progress in areas such as manufacturing, digital economy, e-commerce, financial services, infrastructure, technology and business formalization.

“Congress can criticize the Centre’s policies, which is its democratic right. However, changing statistical standards to suit the political opposition is not acceptable,” he said.

If the Congress and the Left believe that the 2.6% growth claim is correct, they should present the complete data, methodology, evidence and calculations to the public, Mr. Dinakar urged.

Published – 05 Sep 2026 22:15 IST