BJP's "Leader Of Pessimism" Jab At Rahul Gandhi After IMF's India Praise

BJP on Friday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, calling him the "Leader of Pessimism", hours after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised India, citing its "stronger than expected" third-quarter growth. BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan, in a post on X, questioned whether Gandhi will apologise to the nation for "maliciously lying and badmouthing the Indian economy".

"Will LOP, Leader of Pessimism, Rahul Gandhi, who maliciously lied and badmouthed our Indian Economy, now publicly apologise to our nation and people? The IMF lauding the Indian economy is a resounding rebuke and snub to Rahul Gandhi's fake narrative and cheap political agenda, which attempted to undermine our nation's remarkable progress and growth," Kesavan said.

According to the BJP leader, Gandhi continues to be "repeatedly rejected" by the people of India as he has "no compunction or remorse in abusing and slandering the country to further his narrow, failed political agenda."

Will LOP, Leader of Pessimism, Rahul Gandhi who maliciously lied and badmouthed our Indian Economy, now publicly apologise to our nation and people? The IMF lauding the Indian economy is a resounding rebuke and snub to Rahul Gandhi's fake narrative and cheap political agenda… pic.twitter.com/rFTsUkoaOj

— C.R.Kesavan (@crkesavan) January 16, 2026

Gandhi, who has been a constant critic of the BJP-led government, had called the Indian economy "dead" in August last year - agreeing to the remark initially made by US President Donald Trump as he had slapped tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchase. "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. Everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister," he had said. This had sparked a huge backlash with many ruling party leaders slamming the Congress leader.

IMF's India praise

The IMF on Thursday said India is the "key growth engine" for the world, noting that the country's third-quarter growth came out stronger than expected.

"What we have seen in India is that India is a key growth engine for the world," Julie Kozack, Director of the IMF's Communications Department, said while responding to a query on the IMF's assessment of India's growth story in 2025.

According to Kozack, the IMF's most recent assessment had projected India's growth for the 2025-26 fiscal year at 6.6 per cent, largely anchored in strong domestic consumption. "What we have seen since then is that the third quarter growth in India came out stronger than expected," she said, adding that makes it likely that the IMF will be upgrading its forecast going forward.

"We will have a revised growth number for India at that time. But I think the bottom line for us on India is that it has been a key driver of global growth, and growth has been quite robust," she said.