The Congress party on Monday launched a sharp jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in light of the dramatic stock market crash, drawing a parallel between him and former US President Donald Trump. The Opposition party alleged that both leaders were adept at inflicting economic harm through misguided policies, and described the market reaction as "tariffying", according to PTI reports.

Markets tumbled steeply at the start of the trading day, with the BSE Sensex plunging 3,939.68 points – a fall of 5.22 per cent – to 71,425.01. Simultaneously, the NSE Nifty declined by 1,160.8 points or 5.06 per cent to settle at 21,743.65. The crash was triggered by escalating global tensions after Trump's newly announced tariff hikes met with swift retaliatory measures from China, fuelling investor fears of a full-scale trade war and its likely impact on international economic growth.