New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday flayed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks on the Centre's economic policy and said his claim that 90 per cent of Indians cannot afford basic needs was nothing but a "shameless lie" and a "desperate data-defying hoax" from his party.

In a post on X, Kharge on Thursday said hundred crore Indians do not have any extra income to spend, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's version of 'Viksit Bharat' emptied ordinary Indians' pockets and filled the coffers of select billionaires.

India is staring at a global tariff war and trade barriers and the Union budget announcements have turned out to be a "damp squib", the Congress president also said.

Reacting sharply to Kharge's comments, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya wrote on X, "Kharge ji is back with yet another shameless lie - his claim that 90% of Indians can't afford basic needs is nothing but a desperate, data-defying hoax from a party that has spent decades thriving on poverty politics." Citing data, he said while the per capita income has doubled under the Modi government, poverty has plummeted from 22.5 per cent in 2014 to under 5 per cent in 2024.

"Over half of all households now own two-wheelers... 25 crore Indians escaped extreme poverty between 2014-15 and 2022-23... Full electrification, universal sanitation, and banking access - freeing millions from mere survival - achieved in the last 10 years," he added.

Malviya alleged that for decades, the Congress treated Indians as "ATM machines" for votes, "deliberately" stalling progress.

"Today, under PM Modi, even the poorest own assets, earn more, and live better," he said.

The BJP leader alleged that the Congress's propaganda was a "pathetic smokescreen" to hide its own incompetence as he asserted that India's "roaring progress" under Prime Minister Modi will not be derailed by the opposition party's lies.

"Kharge ji's 'grim India' fairy tale is an insult to 25 crore citizens who have risen from poverty. Instead of gaslighting the nation," the BJP leader said and asked the Congress to apologise for "decades of economic betrayal" during its terms at the Centre. PTI PK ZMN

Economic policy claims challenged as false, with government citing income growth and poverty reduction to rebut opposition allegations. BJP rebutted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's claim that most Indians cannot afford basic needs, calling it a 'shameless lie' and a 'data-defying hoax,' and cited rising per capita income, a sharp decline in poverty rates, increased household asset ownership, and large-scale electrification, sanitation, and banking coverage as evidence contradicting the opposition's depiction of widespread deprivation.