- By Nidhi Giri
- Thu, 31 Jul 2025 05:22 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Congress leaders took an opposite stand after Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi echoed US President Donald Trump's "dead economy" remark. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the Centre over Trump's announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports. His party colleagues and allies, however, seemed to distance themselves from Gandhi's rhetoric, instead emphasizing the strength of the Indian economy.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment
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What Rahul Gandhi Said
Hitting out at the PM Modi's government, Rahul Gandhi said that Donald Trump has "stated a fact" and that everyone knows the condition of the Indian economy, except for the prime minister and the finance minister.
"Yes, he is right, Everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minsiter. 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. BJP has finished the economy to help Adani," Rahul Gandhi said outside Parliament.
Congress, Oppn Allies Differ
Differing from Rahul's stance, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed confidence in India’s strong domestic market, stressing on finding “the best deal possible”.
"It is a challenging negotiation. We are negotiating with many countries. The US is not the only negotiation. We have ongoing negotiations with the EU, we already concluded a deal with the UK, and we are talking with other countries also. If we can't compete in America, we may have to diversify our markets outside of America. We are not out of options. If America is completely unreasonable with its demands, we have to move elsewhere," Tharoor said.
“That is the strength of India; we are not a totally export-dependent economy like China. We have a good and strong domestic market. We must give strong support to our negotiators to find the best deal possible. If a good deal is not possible, we may have to walk away,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla termed Trump's move as a "wrong step".
"This is a really wrong step by the US. The government considers Trump a friend, but he has actually slapped us; Indian businessmen will suffer due to this. We will raise all issues in Parliament...When there is so much friendship (between India-US, then why is Donald Trump troubling India?” said Rajiv Shukla, as quoted by ANI.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said there is enough data to know that the Indian economy is among the top five in the world.
“Not that one needs to say it there’s enough legitimate data available to know that Indian economy is in the top 5 of the world and one of the fastest growing economies. Calling it a dead economy can only come from a position of arrogance or ignorance. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” she said on X.
In another post, she acknowledged that India had challenges on which it needs to work, however, economic challenges "do not equate to a dead economy". She said Trump's statement is clearly a tactic to close a deal.