BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi on Tuesday claimed that none of the countries of the world had an economy growing faster than India at a time the World Bank has said India is lagging behind Bangladesh and Nepal and the finance minister’s husband, an economist, suggested the BJP embrace the original architects of India’s liberalisation, both Prime Ministers in Congress regimes, to tide over tough times.

Trivedi, who reached Ranchi on Tuesday, told the media at party headquarters that the Narendra Modi government had taken drastic measures to strengthen India’s economy while responding to concerns made by Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Banerjee and economist Parakala Prabhakar, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband, over India’s economy.

Prabhakar, writing for a national daily, on Monday suggested the BJP should embrace the PV Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh economic architecture to steer the economy out of choppy waters.

Trivedi admitted to a global economic meltdown, but said: “No country of the world has its economy that’s growing faster than India. The government has taken drastic measures to boost the economy. Be assured that the Narendra Modi government has accepted the challenge to boost the economy. Prices are under control and economic growth rate is set to increase. In the coming days, the manufacturing sector will speed up.”

Former Union minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha, who’s the party’s Hazaribagh MP, chipped in, saying the government had taken several measures like merger of banks and ease of doing business to translate into a positive impact on the economy.

However, according to the World Bank projections for South Asia on Sunday, India’s growth is projected to fall to 6.0 this fiscal year and gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in fiscal year 2021 and to 7.2 per cent the following year. In Bangladesh, the real GDP growth is estimated at 8.1 per cent in 2019, up from 7.9 per cent in 2018, the World Bank report said, adding the country’s growth was projected at 7.2 per cent in 2020 and 7.3 per cent in 2021.

Coming to matters in Jharkhand, Trivedi praised the Raghubar Das led BJP-Ajsu Party government, claiming the state made substantial economic progress under Das.

“The UNO under its developmental programme had held a study of eradication of poverty in 101 countries. As per the report the multidimensional poverty in Jharkhand reduced from 74 per cent to 45 per cent due to state government’s efforts. In Jharkhand, the agriculture sector has registered a growth from negative to 14 per cent,” he said.

Trivedi praised Das, saying the government had made a value addition in the Centre’s Ujjwala Yojana, too. “Here, the state government not only provided free LPG stove to beneficiaries, it ensured a second time free LPG refill. This is called the double-engine effect, an initiative of the state getting support from the Centre/ This is the same Jharkhand that has seen its (earlier) chief ministers misusing state resources,” Trivedi said.

He accused former chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren of making personal gains by misusing land tenancy acts in the state. “His party had set a milestone in parliamentary democracy where its members accepted bribes during a no-confidence motion. I can predict a massive majority for the BJP and its alliance this Assembly election in Jharkhand,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Trivedi met CM Das and the BJP also organised Trivedi’s interaction with intellectuals and academics at an event on the campus of a private university in Ranchi.