‘Selective Amnesia, Desperation’: BJP Hits Back at P Chidambaram Over IMF ‘C’ Rating Remarks – Delhi News Daily

Last Updated:November 29, 2025, 14:44 IST

The BJP leader accused Chidambaram of hypocrisy, saying the Congress veteran only questioned data when it suited his political narrative.

Left: BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya; Right: Congress leader P Chidambaram

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Malviya on Friday strongly criticised former finance minister P Chidambaram after the Congress leader questioned why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had given India’s national accounts statistics a ‘C’ grade in its latest review.

Chidambaram had posted earlier, asking why the government had not explained the IMF’s assessment. “Government must explain why the IMF, in its annual review of India’s national accounts statistics, gave the data Grade ‘C’ — the second lowest grade. As I post this comment on Friday night, there is another disturbing fact: as far as I can gather, only two English language newspapers carried the news in their print editions,” he wrote.

Responding sharply, Malviya accused Chidambaram of “selective amnesia” and said his remarks amounted to fear-mongering.

“Mr Chidambaram’s lament about the IMF’s ‘C’ rating is a masterclass in selective amnesia and political desperation. It is disturbing that a former Finance Minister would resort to fear-mongering simply because his party cannot digest the fact that India is no longer the ‘Fragile Five’ economy he left behind,” he wrote on X.

Malviya argued that the technical issues behind the rating had existed even when Chidambaram was in office.

“Let’s talk facts. In February 2014, right before you were voted out, the IMF highlighted the same statistical issues (IMF Country Report No. 14/57, Page 9). Under your watch, the data suffered from ‘weaknesses concerning accuracy and reliability,’ yet you chose silence,” he said.

The BJP leader accused Chidambaram of hypocrisy, saying the Congress veteran only questioned data when it suited his political narrative.

“Now, however, you suddenly pretend to care about ‘data adequacy’ — but only when it serves your agenda of portraying India as a ‘dead economy.’ The hypocrisy is glaring:

When data reflects low growth, you celebrate it; when it shows India rising, you dismiss it as ‘fake.’

You are deliberately misleading the public about the ‘C’ rating. The rating has not changed in many years. It hasn’t moved from A or B to C — it has been C for years due to technical standards, not because GDP data is fake. The primary reason is the technical issue of the 2011–12 base year.

The irony is remarkable — when the government updated the base to 2011–12, you cried foul. Now that the government has announced the revision to the 2022–23 series (coming February 2026) to address these very coverage issues, you will cry again.

You also ignore that India received an A grade for Frequency and Timeliness. We are fixing the legacy issues you overlooked — moving to double deflation and integrating new surveys such as HCES and ASUSE.”

Malviya added that the concern was being exaggerated.

“This is a technical transition, not a crisis. Stop projecting your own past failures onto India’s present success,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla hailed India’s economic performance after the country posted a real GDP growth of 8.2 per cent in the second quarter of FY 2025–26 (July–September), saying the economy continues to defy global headwinds.

Anushka Vats

Anushka Vats is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for storytelling and a curiosity that extends beyond the newsroom. She covers both national and international news. For more stories, you can follow her…Read More

Anushka Vats is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for storytelling and a curiosity that extends beyond the newsroom. She covers both national and international news. For more stories, you can follow her… Read More

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