Facing flak over his statement comparing the Indian economy with the success of box office, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday withdrew his statement.

Calling his statement factually correct, Prasad said a part of his remarks were “completely twisted out of context.”

“Being a sensitive citizen, I withdraw my statement,” said the Union minister in a press release.

Earlier, the Union minister minister of law, justice, communications and IT had said that three Bollywood movies generating business of Rs 120 crore on the October 2 holiday suggests a 'sound economy.'

“I was told that on October 2, a national holiday, three Hindi films did business of Rs 120 crore. Only when the country’s economy is sound can you get such returns,' Prasad said while campaigning for the BJP for the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Prasad was dismissive of the NSSO report that had said unemployment was at a 45-year high in 2017, describing it as “wrong”.

“I have given you 10 parameters where economy is performing well, but not a single one is reflected in the (NSSO) report. Hence I call it a wrong report,” he said.

In a press statement on Tuesday, which he posted on Twitter, Prasad said he had explained about the “various measures the government has taken as pro-people move to strengthen our economy.”

“(The) entire video of my media interaction is available on my social media. Yet I regret to note that one part of my statement has been completely twisted out of context,” he added.

Prasad’s statement had faced backlash from Opposition parties. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took a jibe at the Union minister by calling the comparision “Pra-sad index.”

'Li Keqiang, China's PM inspired the Keqiang index to measure health of economy with the indicators: rail freight, power consumption & bank credit. For our very own IT Minister @rsprasad daily film trade turnover is better. Pra-sad index indeed,' tweeted Ramesh.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also reacted to Prasad's statement, saying that the BJP government lets no opportunity slip to mock at the misery of the people.

'This BJP government lets no opportunity slip to mock at the misery of the people. First they create an economic crisis by mismanaging things, then instead of taking remedial measures, continue to be in denial,” Yechury tweeted.

'Lakhs of workers have lost jobs in just the auto and textile sectors. Investment and Savings levels are at an abysmal low, Unemployment is at its highest in five decades and even biscuit sales are down. No amount of denials, tamashas and fudging of data can hide this truth,' he added.