Our Bureau
New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday marked a major political milestone by becoming India’s longest continuously serving Prime Minister, using the occasion to launch a sharp attack on the Congress party and its economic legacy. Addressing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders and workers, Modi dismissed the term “Hindu Rate of Growth” as an attempt to conceal what he described as Congress’s policy failures, arguing that the period should instead be remembered as the “Congress Rate of Growth.”
The Prime Minister, who completed 4,399 consecutive days in office, surpassing the uninterrupted tenure record of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, said India had maintained an economic growth rate of over 7 per cent despite global and domestic challenges. He credited political stability and policy continuity under the NDA for the country’s economic progress.
In his speech commemorating 12 years of the NDA government, PM Modi argued that India’s decades of slow economic growth after Independence were wrongly labelled the “Hindu Rate of Growth.” He contended that the phrase unfairly associated economic stagnation with Hindu culture while overlooking what he called the shortcomings of Congress-led governance. According to PM Modi, those years left the country trapped in poverty, helplessness and a sense of inferiority.
The term “Hindu Rate of Growth,” coined by economist Raj Krishna, has historically referred to India’s average annual growth rate of around 3.5 per cent between the 1950s and 1980s. Modi’s remarks reignited political debate over the phrase and its implications.
The Prime Minister also highlighted achievements of his government over the past 12 years, reiterating the NDA’s commitment to building a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047. He thanked coalition partners for their support and called for renewed efforts toward economic development and governance reforms.
