MLA Santosh Lad. File
| Photo Credit: Allen Egenuse J.
Indian economy was consistently growing under the leadership of former PM Manmohan Singh. But under PM Narendra Modi, it is on a downward spiral, Santosh Lad, Minister and Congress leader, said in Hubballi on Sunday (October 11, 2026).
“India has seen 15 PMs since independence. But till 2014, our national debt stood at roughly 55 lakh crore rupees. But now, it has escalated to over 225 lakh crore rupees. We have to question why the current leaders have failed to address this problem,’’ he said. He was speaking at a campaign meeting for Mohan Limbikai, the Congress nominee for West Graduates’ constituency Legislative Council elections.
“During the UPA era, all sectors of the economy saw sustained economic expansion under Dr. Singh’s leadership. But now, the government claims higher GDP figures, but they do not reflect prosperity of individual citizens. While the UPA-1 and UPA-2 administrations allocated roughly 4% of the national budget toward education, it has been significantly reduced now. Over 1,20,000 schools have been forced to close down nationwide in the last decade. . Our party cadres should take such facts and figures to voters through pamphlets and public outreach,” he said.
Mr. Limbikai urged party functionaries and workers to step up door-to-door campaigning and ensure maximum voter turnout for the election. He said the number of voters had increased to 97,233 from from 88,087.
He said he was fighting from the seat that had retuned senior leader H. K. Patil for four terms.
He urged workers to convince voters about casting valid votes. “In the previous election, 8,700 votes were declared invalid due to errors. We try to reduce them,” he said.
MLAs Prasad Abbayya and N.H. Konareddy, and others were present.
Published – October 12, 2026 11:57 am IST
