The Indian government is apparently prepared to take the economy to '5 million ton'. And with the economy slowing down in recent times, that might be a rather heavy burden to bear.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah however is not daunted.
Speaking at the Times Now Summit he said that the country's economy had been brought to $2 trillion over the last 70 years.
"From 2014 to 2019, under Modiji, the economy has moved from $2 trillion to $2.9 trillion," he said.
Shah then went on to add that he was certain that "3 million ton ke base par, 5 million ton jane ke liye hum tayyar hai."
If you're confused by the above statements, well, you're not alone. Not everyone was sure what a 'million ton' was, or even why as measure of weight would be involved in the economy.
Now, it cannot be said that Shah was unaware of the word 'trillion'. Apart from having used it on several different occasions (to discuss the economy), he had even mentioned it a few times during the interview itself. The gaffe thus becomes more baffling, especially when he repeats it within a second or two.
Twitter was quick to catch on, with many pointing out the Minister's blunder.
While many on Twitter shared just the few seconds where Shah can be making the gaffe, the original video offers more detail.
Take a look:
To borrow a phrase, "a heavy purse makes a light heart".
While many claim that the Indian economy is ailing, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said recently, "There are seven important indicators which show that there are green shoots in the economy...economy is not in trouble." In recent times she had added that the Union Budget 2020 laid the groundwork for the same goal.
Another Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari adds that the "goal is difficult but not impossible".
"If we want to become a USD 5 trillion economy, we have to increase the domestic production of these things instead of importing them," he had said.
Shah's strange turn of phrase however does bring to mind several errors made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the years.
Take the time he accidentally promised that the Congress would give "Rs 72,000 crore per year" to the "poorest of the poor families", while addressing a rally in Rajasthan.
There was also the time in 2016 when he called the then Chairman of the Lok Sabha, Dr P Venugopal, "Madam Speaker".
And let us not forget the time when Gandhi declared in 2013 that "this morning I got up at night, 4 o’clock in the morning...".
