New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday launched a sharp political attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised India’s economic performance, citing “stronger than expected” growth in the third quarter. The ruling party said the IMF’s remarks were a clear rebuttal of what it described as a “false and pessimistic narrative” propagated by the Congress leader about the Indian economy.
BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan, in a post on social media platform X, referred to Rahul Gandhi as the “Leader of Pessimism” and questioned whether he would now apologise to the nation for “maliciously lying and badmouthing the Indian economy”. The BJP’s reaction came hours after the IMF described India as a key driver of global growth.
BJP calls IMF remarks a rebuke to Congress leader
In his post, Kesavan said the IMF’s praise amounted to a “resounding rebuke and snub” to Rahul Gandhi’s statements on the Indian economy. He accused the Congress leader of attempting to undermine India’s progress through what he called a “cheap 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?” Kesavan wrote. He added that international institutions recognising India’s economic performance exposed what the BJP sees as the hollowness of the opposition’s criticism.
The BJP spokesperson further alleged that Gandhi has been “repeatedly rejected” by the people of India because he shows “no compunction or remorse in abusing and slandering the country” to advance his political interests. According to Kesavan, such statements damage India’s image globally and demoralise citizens.
Reference to ‘dead economy’ remark
The BJP’s renewed attack also referred to Rahul Gandhi’s controversial remarks made in August last year, when he had described the Indian economy as “dead”. Gandhi had echoed a comment by then US President Donald Trump, who had criticised India while announcing tariffs over its purchase of Russian oil.
“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,” Gandhi had said at the time.
Those remarks had triggered a strong backlash from the ruling party, with several BJP leaders accusing the Congress leader of insulting the country and undermining investor confidence. The issue had dominated political discourse for days, with the government defending its economic record and growth trajectory.
IMF highlights India as global growth engine
The political exchange followed comments by the IMF on Thursday highlighting India’s economic performance. Julie Kozack, Director of the IMF’s Communications Department, said India continues to be a “key growth engine” for the global economy.
Responding to a question on the IMF’s assessment of India’s growth outlook in 2025, Kozack said the Fund’s most recent projection had pegged India’s growth for the 2025–26 financial year at 6.6 per cent. She noted that this forecast was 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,” Kozack said. She added that the improved performance makes it likely that the IMF would consider upgrading its growth forecast for India in the future.
“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.
Government cites reforms and domestic demand
Though the BJP statement focused on attacking the Congress, government leaders have repeatedly attributed India’s growth momentum to policy reforms, public investment and resilient domestic demand. Officials point to infrastructure spending, manufacturing incentives, digital public infrastructure and a growing consumer base as key drivers supporting economic expansion.
India has remained among the fastest-growing major economies despite global uncertainties, geopolitical tensions and slowdown in several advanced economies. The government has often cited international endorsements from agencies such as the IMF, World Bank and credit rating firms to counter opposition criticism.
Opposition maintains critical stance
The Congress, however, has consistently argued that headline growth figures mask deeper structural issues such as unemployment, inflation and income inequality. Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have said that growth has not translated into broad-based prosperity and have questioned the distributional impact of economic policies.
While the Congress has not immediately responded to the BJP’s latest remarks, party leaders in the past have defended Gandhi’s statements as political criticism aimed at highlighting economic distress faced by ordinary citizens.
Political debate set to continue
The IMF’s comments are expected to intensify the ongoing political debate over the state of the Indian economy, especially ahead of key elections. For the BJP, international validation of India’s growth narrative strengthens its economic messaging, while for the opposition, the challenge remains to shift the focus to issues of jobs, prices and livelihoods.
As India continues to navigate a complex global economic environment, economic performance is likely to remain a central theme of political contestation in the months ahead.