BJP MP dismisses recession reports in India because 'people are wearing coats not kurtas'

In a bizarre remark, BJP MP Virendra Singh Mast in Ballia on Sunday stated that people are wearing coats and jackets instead of traditional 'kurta' and 'dhoti', which shows that there is no recession in the country.

'If there was a recession we would not have bought...'

"There have been discussions in Delhi and the world, about a recession. If there was any recession, we would have come here wearing 'kurta' and 'dhoti', not coats and jackets. If there was a recession we would not have bought clothes, pants, and pyjamas," he said while addressing a public meeting. He further opined India is the country of villages and not just metropolitan cities.

"I want to inform you that this country is a country of 6.5 lakh villages and not just cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Hedgewar, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Jai Prakash Narain had expressed confidence in the villagers and helped the country gain independence," he added.

This is not the first time Virendra Singh Mast has dismissed reports of an economic slowdown in the country. Earlier, Virendra Singh Mast claimed "traffic jams" as an indicator of growth in the automobile sector.

"If there is a decline in automobile sales then why are there traffic jams on the roads? An atmosphere is being created that there is an economic slowdown. To defame the nation and government people are saying that the automobile sector has slowed down," he said in Lok Sabha on December 5 last year.

"There are 20 vehicles in one home. You never decide what should be the relation between consumer and production," Virendra Singh Mast said.

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Earlier, the Congress and 19 opposition parties on January 13 accused the BJP-led Central government of "complete mismanagement' of the economy. They had said there has been an "alarming deterioration" in the livelihood status of the vast majority of people "due to the complete mismanagement of the Indian economy by the Modi government." Government data released on January 13 showed that retail inflation had risen to 7.35% in December 2019 as compared to 5.54% in the previous month.

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(With agency inputs)