Cong-NCP attack Maha govt on state of economy, question stats

The opposition Congress-NCP Monday accused the Devendra Fadnavis government of painting a wrong picture of the economy ahead of state polls scheduled for later this year.

Speaking on the state budget in the Assembly, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan accused the state government of "tweaking" economic data in a "desperate bid" to paint a rosy picture of the state's economy.

Former finance minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil also accused the Devendra Fadnavis regime of "manipulating" economic data.

The BJP-led government, last week, said Maharashtra had grown at 7.5 per cent in 2018-19 witha Rs 4.05 lakh crore expenditure plan.

Initiating the discussion on the issue, Chavan alleged that the state's gross state domestic product (GSDP) was more likely to have been 2-2.5 per cent lower than 7.5 per cent as estimated by Directorate of Economics and Statistics in the Economic Survey Report (ESR) 2018-19.

"The Economic survey presented last year (for 2017-18) had ...