The Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of destroying the credibility of data in its desperation to create false narratives before the election, wondering why 81 crore people needed free ration when only 5 per cent, which means 7 crore people, were said to be poor.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the Modi government lied with aplomb but stark realities on the ground punched holes into the lofty claims.

“The biggest headline out of this report is that the poorest 5% Indians spend Rs 46 rupees in a day,” she said, referring to the Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey by the NSSO (National Sample Survey Office), which allowed the Niti Aayog chief to claim that poverty was down to 5 per cent.

Ironically, the Modi government had been accused of suppressing the last NSSO survey just before the 2019 parliamentary elections because it painted a grim scenario as the economy had been derailed by demonetisation, making the consumption data look woeful.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted: “Why do the poorest 5% of India — 7 crore people — spend only Rs 46 daily? Why did the poorest 5% of families get the least benefit from government schemes — only Rs 68 every month (Rs 2.5 per day)? Did only the crony capitalist friends benefit from Modi’s guarantee? Why is the monthly income of farmers less than the average income of rural India?”

Shrinate said: “The richest 5% in rural areas are spending 8 times more than what the poorest 5% are spending; in urban areas the richest 5% are spending 10 times more than what the poorest 5% are spending. How do you explain this inequality? It’s a ticking time bomb and the data proves your claims are bogus. If 7 crore Indians are poor, why are you forced to give free ration to 81 crore? Why is the domestic savings rate falling?”

She added: “This data has multiple other wrong claims, multiple other wrong assertions. But, if there are only 7 crore poor, why is it that 35 crore Indians cannot afford a two-wheeler or a car or any mode of transport? Why is it that sales of two-wheelers have dipped to 0.7% from 9% under the UPA? Why is it that 45 crore Indians today cannot afford a television? Why is India constantly falling in the global hunger index?”

Arguing that consumption expenditure had risen under the UPA because of rising incomes but people were now spending more despite lower incomes because of inflationary pressures, Shrinate said: “Why is the Modi government destroying the credibility of our economic data? Which data from the Niti Aayog on poverty is right: 19.28% that was quoted in July 2023, 11% that was quoted a few weeks back or this 5%? Forty youths commit suicide every day and two farmers die every hour but the government is weaving a false narrative of success.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “Modi said farmers’ income will be doubled by 2022. For the first time in over 50 years, real rural consumption expenditure fell by 8.8% between 2012 and 2018. Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the annual growth rate of real rural wages was negative for both agriculture (-0.6%) and non-agriculture (-1.4%). Tractor sales have seen a steep decline in the west and the south in the first nine months of this fiscal year. Two-wheeler sales were 22% lower in 2023 than in 2018.”