Congress's Rahul Gandhi, who is now in Germany's Munich, has waded into another controversy with his comments of manufacturing in India. After a visit to a plant of automobile manufacturer BMW, Gandhi posted a video on social media in which he is heard criticising the status of manufacturing in India.
"Manufacturing is the backbone of strong economies. Sadly, in India, manufacturing is declining. For us to accelerate growth, we need to produce more -- build meaningful manufacturing ecosystems, and create high-quality jobs at scale," he is heard saying in the video on Instagram.
It ruffled the feathers of the BJP, which had been anticipating criticism from him during the tour.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari called Mr Gandhi's claim of decline "fake news".
In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, he claimed 495 per cent growth in total electronics manufacturing in the last 10 years, and a 760 per cent growth in exports.
Indigenous production of automobiles, he said, has gone up 14 times since 1991.
"Automobile Manufacturing (1991 vs 2024): Vehicle production 1991: 2 million units 2024: 28 million units +1,300 per cent increase (14x growth)," the X post added.
Further, he added that India aims to produce 50 million vehicles by 2030 and to be among the top 2 auto manufacturers globally by 2047.
"What India is targeting next? 50 million vehicles by 2030, 200 million vehicles by 2047, and the Top-2 auto manufacturers globally. From import dependence to export dominance --this is manufacturing-led growth backed by data, not slogans. Rahul Gandhi may deny reality, but factories, exports, and numbers don't lie. Under PM Modi, India's growth story is real -- and accelerating," the BJP leader wrote.
Gandhi, though, praised Indian engineering, saying. "A highlight was seeing TVS's 450cc motorcycle, developed in partnership with BMW. Proud moment to see Indian engineering on display".
Gandhi's comments about India during his foreign tours have regularly generated a huge political storm at home.
During his visit to Cambridge in 2023, while sharing his experiences of Bharat Jodo Yatra, he had said that democracy in India is under attack.
"I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy -- Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around -- all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," he had said.
The year before in Cambridge, he had spoken of Prime Minister Narendra Modi "creating a vision of India that is not inclusive of all parts of the country's population, which is unfair and goes against the idea of India".
