New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday hit out at Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress leader cannot see the transformation happening in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership because he is too busy “undermining India’s progress”.
This came after Gandhi launched a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Modi, and said he has mastered the “art of slogans” but offered no solutions, claiming that India’s manufacturing was at a record low despite the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Hitting back, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari wrote in a post on X, “Rahul ji, everyone in India can see the transformation, except you. Maybe because you’re too busy undermining India’s progress to notice it.”
Operation Sindoor is the latest and “landmark example” of India’s manufacturing prowess where India’s indigenous developed drones destroyed Chinese drones, he added.
Citing various data indicating progress made under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Modi government, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said Rahul Gandhi’s narratives are “outdated, misinformed, and disconnected from reality”.
“India is building. India is growing. India is leading,” he said in a post on X.
Under PM Modi, India has transformed from an importer to a global manufacturing powerhouse, Malviya added.
Bhandari said since 2014 under PM Modi’s leadership, engineering exports have surged by 60 per cent while defence exports “skyrocketed from just Rs 686 crore to over Rs 23,000 crore”.
“From importing 70 per cent of our defence equipment, India now manufactures 65 per cent of its needs domestically. PMI is at a 10-month high, signalling industrial strength,” he said.
Bhandari said India under Modi’s leadership supplied 60 per cent of the world’s COVID-19 vaccines, becoming the “pharmacy of the world”.
India is now the second largest mobile phone manufacturer globally, he added.
“While Indian startups and entrepreneurs were burning the midnight oil to build a world-class drone industry, you (Rahul Gandhi) were busy endorsing Chinese drones and promoting Chinese brands on Indian soil,” the BJP spokesperson charged.
Bhandari said Gandhi never believed in ‘Make in India’ because ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ doesn’t align with his “imported ideology.”
“What was there in that secret MoU which you signed with the Communist Party of China,” Bhandari asked.
Malviya, in his post on X, said “Let’s bust the myths — with facts”.
He said the PLI scheme, which Gandhi claimed had failed, has led to cumulative investments of Rs 10,905 crore, total production worth Rs 7.15 lakh crore and exports of Rs 3.9 lakh crore.
“Electronics production value rose from Rs 18,900 crore (FY14) to Rs 4,22,000 crore (FY24). Mobile phone exports surged 77-fold from Rs 1,566 crore (2014-15) to Rs 1.2 lakh crore (2023-24),” he said.
He added that 99.2 per cent of mobile phones sold in India are now made in India, up from just 26 per cent in 2014-15.
Malviya further said that under the PLI scheme for electronics alone, 1,39,670 direct jobs have already been created.
As many as 1.8 lakh new companies were registered in 2023-24, marking a 16 per cent increase over the previous year, he said.
“Electronics exports hit USD 38+ billion in FY24-25, a 32 per cent year-on-year increase,” Malviya said.
“PLI allocations for electronics rose from Rs 5,747 crore (FY24-25) to Rs 8,885 crore (FY25-26) — a clear signal of continued commitment,” he added.
Malviya said the government has approved landmark semiconductor projects worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore, “a critical leap into deep-tech manufacturing”.
Overall, electronics production is projected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026, he said.
