‘Manufacturing is declining in India’: Rahul Gandhi’s Munich remarks spark BJP backlash | WATCH
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, currently in Munich, Germany, has sparked fresh controversy with remarks on the state of manufacturing in India during a visit to an automobile manufacturing facility operated by BMW.
In a video posted on social media, Mr Gandhi is heard criticising the decline of manufacturing in the country. “Manufacturing is the backbone of strong economies. Sadly, in India, manufacturing is declining. For us to accelerate growth, we need to produce more — build meaningful manufacturing ecosystems, and create high-quality jobs at scale,” he said in the Instagram video.
The comments drew a sharp response from the BJP, which had anticipated criticism from the Congress leader during his overseas visit.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari dismissed Mr Gandhi’s claims as “fake news”. In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, he cited data to counter the allegation, claiming a 495 per cent increase in total electronics manufacturing over the past decade and a 760 per cent rise in exports.
Mr Bhandari also said indigenous automobile production had increased 14-fold since 1991. “Automobile manufacturing (1991 vs 2024): Vehicle production 1991: 2 million units; 2024: 28 million units — a 1,300 per cent increase (14x growth),” the post said.
He added that India aims to produce 50 million vehicles by 2030 and 200 million by 2047, with the goal of becoming one of the world’s top two automobile manufacturing nations. “From import dependence to export dominance — this is manufacturing-led growth backed by data, not slogans. Rahul Gandhi may deny reality, but factories, exports, and numbers don’t lie. Under PM Modi, India’s growth story is real — and accelerating,” Mr Bhandari wrote.
Mr Gandhi, however, also praised Indian engineering during his visit. “A highlight was seeing TVS’s 450cc motorcycle, developed in partnership with BMW. Proud moment to see Indian engineering on display,” he said.
Mr Gandhi’s remarks during foreign visits have frequently triggered political controversy back home. During a visit to Cambridge University in 2023, while speaking about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he had said that democracy in India was under attack.
“I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around — all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” he had said.
A year earlier at Cambridge, Mr Gandhi had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “creating a vision of India that is not inclusive of all parts of the country’s population, which is unfair and goes against the idea of India”.