"This government will never shy away from honouring our mother cow," a hoarse Piyush Goyal, interim finance minister, told a raucous parliament as he unveiled the interim budget. But a crisis in Indian agriculture, rising joblessness and difficulties for the middle class have dented Modi's image. He also predicted that India's $2.3-trillion economy would more than double in size in the next five years. "Young voters, traders, farmers and the middle-class will definitely be lured by the announcements and also benefit from them," he told AFP. But Rahul Gandhi, head of the Congress party, tweeted: "Five years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 01, 2019 12:33 UTC