Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Congress party invented the term "Hindu growth rate" to conceal its own governance failures [1].
The statement targets the historical economic narrative of India, suggesting that a specific phrase was used to shift blame for slow growth away from political leadership and toward the country's majority religion [2].
Speaking at the NDA Conclave, Modi said the phrase was a tool used by the Congress party to mask economic mismanagement [1]. He said that the stagnation experienced during the rule of the Congress party was mislabeled as a cultural or religious limitation rather than a policy failure [3].
"It was Congress rate of growth, not Hindu rate," Modi said [1].
Modi said that the term should be rebranded as the "Congress growth rate" to accurately reflect the period of stagnation [2]. He said that the party pushed India into misery while selling the resulting economic conditions under the guise of the "Hindu growth rate" [2].
According to the prime minister, this framing served two purposes: it hid the party's inability to foster growth, and it insulted the Hindu community by implying an inherent limitation to their economic potential [3]. The speech serves as a critique of the Congress party's long-term economic legacy and its impact on the national psyche — framing the debate as one of political accountability versus cultural stereotyping [2].
“"It was Congress rate of growth, not Hindu rate."”
By reframing the 'Hindu rate of growth'—a term historically used by economists to describe the slow growth of the Indian economy between the 1950s and 1980s—Modi is attempting to transform a macroeconomic observation into a political liability for the Congress party. This strategy aims to align his administration's economic achievements with a narrative of liberation from previous systemic failures and cultural condescension.
