In a veiled attack on the Left, which has launched a joint campaign with the UNPA against the Government over rising prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said any ideology which undermines expansion of the economy and says growth indices did not necessarily translate to growth equity should be rejected.

“One should come forward to repudiate any ideology which professes that growth indices are irrelevant,” he said, without mentioning Left parties, at a seminar organised by the District Congress Committee in Kannur on Sunday.

Questioning claims that India's growth story had left out the poor, Chidambaram pointed out that the country had achieved 8.8 per cent growth during the four-year Congress-led UPA rule, compared to 5.8 per cent in the tenure of the previous BJP-led NDA government.

Economic growth close to 9 per cent would help India double its GDP over the next decade, he said.

“If we stand to remain at 3.50 per cent growth rate—that the nation could achieve during 50 years after Independence—we will continue to be poor for many more years,” the Finance Minister warned.

The Left parties in Kerala have shown some change of perspective lately, but that needs to continue if the state’s financial health is to improve, according to him.

Chidambaram said Kerala’s neglect of infrastructure development was what still made it trail on the development front. While states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are taking huge leaps in key areas like energy, roads, bridges and ports, Kerala continues to lag, he said.

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