Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, sparked a significant controversy on Friday by reiterating US President Donald Trump’s criticism of India’s “dead economy,” claiming that the government had to act to protect the nation’s textile sector from the 50% tariffs placed on Indian exports due to Russian oil sales. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly condemned his comments.
Gandhi claimed on X that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed the problem of businesses being impacted by tariffs or even offered any help. India’s textile exporters are suffering greatly from uncertainty and 50% US tariffs. Our “Dead Economy” has resulted in job losses, industrial closures, and decreased orders, he stated.
Despite the fact that thousands of enterprises and over 4.5 crore jobs are at risk, Mr. Modi has neither given any help nor even mentioned tariffs. You are responsible, Modi ji. Please give this some thought.”
Gandhi’s comments coincide with Washington and New Delhi’s ongoing high-stakes talks to end a protracted trade impasse characterized by tariffs, geopolitical unrest, and disagreements over energy and agriculture. Following the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs totaling 50% on the majority of Indian exports, including penalties related to India’s ongoing engagement with Russia and its membership in the BRICS group, trade relations between the US and India are still tense.
50% US tariffs and uncertainty are badly hurting India’s textile exporters. Job losses, factory shutdowns and reduced orders are a reality of our ‘Dead Economy’.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 23, 2026
Mr. Modi has offered no relief or even spoken about tariffs, even though more than 4.5 crore jobs and lakhs of… pic.twitter.com/5BcG3AZibg
Gandhi’s comments coincide with Washington and New Delhi’s ongoing high-stakes talks to end a protracted trade impasse characterized by tariffs, geopolitical unrest, and disagreements over energy and agriculture. Following the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs totaling 50% on the majority of Indian exports, including penalties related to India’s ongoing engagement with Russia and its membership in the BRICS group, trade relations between the US and India are still tense.
In a cautious response, India imposed retaliatory taxes on a number of US agricultural products. Important issues are still unsolved as the White House presses India to expand its agricultural markets. This is a delicate matter for New Delhi, which considers farm protections to be non-negotiable.
“Beta Is the Issue, Not Data”
Rahul Gandhi was strongly criticized by the BJP, which claimed that he had an anti-Indian agenda and that the issue “lay with beta (son), and not the data.”
Speaking at CNN-News18, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla emphasized that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had increased India’s economic growth prediction for 2025 to 7.3% in response to Congress’s allegations of fabricated economic data. The IMF declared that India’s economy has grown from the eleventh to the fourth largest and referred to it as the world’s growth engine. “The mother of all deals” is what the EU wants to achieve with India,” he stated.
“Whatever India says or stands for, Congress is not willing to accept that because Rahul Gandhi has an agenda against India,” Poonawalla said, adding that RBI data revealed 9 crore jobs under the BJP period compared to just 2 crore during the UPA regime.
“The same person who accepts EVM results in Kerala local body polls, but he doesn’t want EVMs in Karnataka local polls. This man is a hypocrite and a liar,” he continued.
In spite of US tariff pressure, the IMF raised India’s 2025 growth estimate by 0.7 percentage points to 7.3%. It attributes the slowdown to the waning of what it called “cyclical and temporary factors” and projects growth to decline to 6.4% in both 2026 and 2027.
Additionally, it stated that India is the world’s primary economic engine and that its third-quarter growth exceeded forecasts. According to the IMF, the global economy has demonstrated surprising resilience and is probably going to survive Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies.
