Meltdown : Rahul leads Congress assault

New Delhi : The Congress on Friday mounted a coordinated attack on the government over the economy, saying that its own advisors were warning of an unprecedented crisis with little sign of a turnaround plan. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi led the charge with a shot on Twitter, followed by sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the party's social media apparatus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman silence on the economic slowdown was flayed and the party praised the Vice Chairperson of Niti Aayog, Rajiv Kumar for his confession that the current stress in the financial sector is unprecedented.

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said, "The silence of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister is deafening."

He said the country is witnessing the politics of vendetta and an unprecedented and undeclared emergency-like situation.

Slamming the government, Tewari said, "The government does not have a clue about how to handle this economic crisis, which is intensifying every day in the country."

Hitting out at the government, Tewari said, "Rajiv Kumar deserves to be congratulated for his confession. He says the current stress in the financial sector is unprecedented."

He said the BJP-NDA government would like us to believe that this is because of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, but "unfortunately that is not the case".

His remarks came a day after Rajiv Kumar described the current economic slowdown as an "unprecedented situation that India has not faced in last 70 years".

"This is the making of the BJP led NDA government in the past five years," Tewari said, adding, "If you look at some of the figures which stare you in the face, over three crore people are currently facing a threat of becoming unemployed."

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said while the economy is in Intensive Care Unit, the government has issued a "look out notice" for all those defending civil liberties.

Taking to Twitter, the former law minister said the developments in the last few weeks have shown that both the economy and the cause of liberty need a "stimulus package". "The economy is in ICU and government has issued a "look out notice" for all those defending civil liberties," he tweeted.

This comes a day after Sibal had expressed his discontent over Chidambaram's arrest and termed it "drama" and "political persecution".

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury hit out at the government over the state of the country's economy. "India is experiencing what it has not in decades as millions of livelihoods are destroyed. The government is busy pretending that all is well. "Forget government spin.

But when Niti Aayog chief and two members of the PM's Economic Advisory Council go public with the alarming situation in the Economy, it is a crisis of deep confidence in this govt. Is anyone responsible on top even listening to their own appointees?," the Left leader said in a tweet.

Indicators suggesting economic slowdown are a cause for worry, Shiv Sena deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said and called for ideas to overcome the situation.