New Delhi, March 29: Fuelling the ongoing war of words with NITI Aayog vice-chief Rajiv Kumar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that he would scrap the government think tank if his party gets voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. Gandhi in a tweet stated that the Aayog serves no purpose except for making presentations for the PM. “If voted to power, we will scrap the NITI Aayog. It has served no purpose other than making marketing presentations for the PM and fudging data,” he said. Rahul Gandhi Explains Congress' Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme, Promises 'Rs 72,000 Per Year to 20% Most Poor Families'.

He also promised to replace the NITI Aayog with a 'lean' Planning Commission. Gandhi added, “We will replace it with a lean Planning Commission whose members will be renowned economists & experts with less than 100 staff.” Meanwhile, after coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also scrapped Planning Commission and replaced it with the NITI Ayog. NITI Aayog Vice-Chief Rajiv Kumar Must Explain Remarks Critical of Rahul Gandhi's 'Nyay' Promise by April 2: Election Commission.

Rahul Gandhi's Tweet:

The Aayog had stoked controversy, earlier this year, when the estimated GDP growth rate for the financial year 2018-19 was revised to 7.2 per cent, a day before the release of Interim Budget 2019. The revised estimates were nearly 0.5 percentage point higher than what the economy had clocked in the last fiscal.

Election highlights of this week:

The NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar on Monday also criticised Gandhi’s minimum income support program. According to Kumar, the minimum income support scheme will increase the fiscal deficit from 3.5 percent to six percent. The Election Commission on Friday asked the NITI Ayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar to furnish his reply by April 2 over his comments against Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s 'Nyuntam Aay Yojana' (NYAY) promise.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 29, 2019 11:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).