India, Sept. 1 -- The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its criticism of the government's latest GDP figures, questioning the methodology used to calculate economic growth and arguing that the headline 7.8 per cent growth rate does not reflect the challenges faced by households, workers and businesses.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh described the latest GDP numbers as "statistical gymnastics" and alleged that repeated changes in the methodology had made it difficult to assess the underlying state of the economy.

"Yesterday's GDP numbers are simply statistical gymnastics. By changing the methodology repeatedly, the Modi government is fixing GDP data while hiding India's bleak economic reality," Ramesh said...