THE ZEBRA CROSSING

On Feb. 8, hours before finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled a white paper in Parliament on the "governance, economic and fiscal crises" during the UPA regime and steps taken to turn around the economy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge released a black paper to highlight the failures of the NDA government, terming the past 10 years as an "era of injustice". With plenty cherry-picking in both documents, here's a lowdown on some of the claims:

- VIPUL GROVER

ECONOMIC GROWTH 
WHITE PAPER

"Since the time our government assumed power in 2014, the Indian economy has undergone many structural reforms that have strengthened the macroeconomic fundamentals. Reforms resulted in the transition of India from the league of the 'Fragile Five' to the league of 'Top Five' in just about a decade...despite unprecedented obstacles of external origin."

BLACK PAPER

[It doesn't mention growth figures, focusing on "economic injustices" instead.] "The Modi government's tenure is marked by high rates of unemployment, economic catastrophes, such as demonetisation and flawed GST, which have increased the rich-poor divide and devastated the future of millions of farmers and daily wage workers."

EMPLOYMENT
WHITE PAPER

"The UPA government's policy inaction and missteps put off valuable private investment, which could have generated growth and jobs." [The white paper is silent on employment figures and steps taken by the Modi regime to generate jobs.]

INFLATION
WHITE PAPER

"Inflation raged between 2009 and 2014 and the common man bore the brunt. High fiscal deficits for six years between FY09 and FY14 heaped misery.... From FY10 to FY14, the average annual inflation rate was in double digits."

TAXATION 
WHITE PAPER