The Congress has described as a “lie” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking to blame God for the economic crisis, arguing that mismanagement by the Narendra Modi government had derailed growth much before the pandemic struck.

The Centre on Thursday disclaimed its constitutional obligation to compensate states for any annual shortfall in GST collections this year, with Sitharaman calling the pandemic an “act of God” that had left the government in no position to borrow the amount on to its books and then defray the sum as the states had hoped.

“...We are facing an act of God which might even result in a contraction of the economy, to what per cent I am not getting into that,” Sitharaman had said after a meeting of the GST Council.

Several Congress leaders, however, pointed out that six successive quarters had witnessed decline in the GDP growth rate, the worst phase in 23 years.

Responding to the “act of God” excuse, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “India’s economy has been destroyed by three actions: Demonetisation, flawed GST and failed lockdown. Anything else is a lie.”

Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Quarterly GDP growth rates: Q2 2018-19 — 7.1%, Q3 2018-19 — 6.6%, Q4 2018-19 — 5.8%, Q1 2019-20 — 5.0%, Q2 2019-20 — 4.5%, Q3 2019-20 — 4.7%, Q4 2019-20 — 3.1%. Was this also an ‘Act of God’ or Act of Master Actor, Madam Finance Minister?”

The “master actor” quip appeared to be a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who the Congress often ridicules for his perceived theatrical skills.

Asked whether he was contesting the government’s claim that the corona-induced lockdown had hurt the economy, Ramesh told The Telegraph: “Economic deceleration was very much in evidence even before Covid-19 struck. Six consecutive quarters of declining growth. Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth is the widely accepted definition of recession. Covid-19 and the manner in which it has been managed have worsened the economic situation.”

On social media, Ramesh said: “Parliament passed a law that the Centre will compensate states for GST shdortfalls for five years. The Centre is now passing the buck to states, telling them they should borrow to make up shortfalls. This is abdicating the Centre’s legal obligations. Pathetic! States should oppose tooth and nail.”

Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked whether the pre-pandemic economic decline and the 45-year-high unemployment rate were also acts of God.