India’s national debt has crossed ₹225 crore, says minister Santosh Lad

MLA Santosh Lad. File | Photo credit: Allen Egenuse J.

India’s economy grew steadily under the leadership of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But it is on a downward spiral under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Santosh Lad, minister and Congress leader, in Hubballi on Sunday (Oct 11, 2026).

“India has experienced 15 PM since independence. But till 2014, our national debt was around Rs 55 lakh crore. But now it has escalated to more than Rs 225 lakh crore. We have to ask why the current leaders have not been able to solve this problem,” he said. He was speaking at a meeting of West Limbikai campaign candidates for Mohan. constituencies to the Legislative Council.

“During the UPA era, all sectors of the economy saw sustained economic expansion under the leadership of Dr. Singh. But now the government is claiming higher GDP figures, but these do not reflect the prosperity of individual citizens. While the UPA-1 and UPA-2 administrations allocated roughly 4% of the national budget to education, it has now been significantly reduced. More than 1,20,000 schools have been forced to close in the last decade. Present such facts and figures to voters through leaflets and public reach,” he said.

Mr. Limbikai urged the party functionaries and workers to intensify the door-to-door campaign and ensure maximum voter turnout. He said the number of voters has increased to 97,233 out of 88,087.

He said he was contesting from a seat that re-aligned senior leader HK Patil for four terms.

He urged the workers to convince voters to cast valid votes. “In the previous elections, 8,700 votes were declared invalid due to errors. We are trying to reduce them,” he said.

MLA Prasad Abbayya and NH Konareddy were present.

Published – 12 Oct 2026 11:57 IST