BJP slammed then Finance Minister P Chidambaram for committing the original sin by not following fiscal discipline.
Accusing the government of leading the country to a situation of policy paralysis, the BJP on Monday slammed then Finance Minister P Chidambaram for committing the original sin by not following fiscal discipline.
Initiating the debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, Yashwant Sinha said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was facing the results of the mistakes committed by Chidambaram (as the then Finance Minister).
"Mukherjee is not at fault...the original sin was committed in the year 2008-09...the way we took liberty and mocked fiscal deficit, we have not been able to bring back the economy on its tracks," he said.
Sinha also charged the UPA government with throwing the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act out of the window.
He said while NDA was sad at failing to come to power in 2009, he at times feels that had it happened, the UPA would have targetted it for economic crisis.
"Therefore, our sorrow is reduced that we lost the 2009 polls and these people have been left to stew in their own juices," he said.
Accusing the government of policy paralysis in decision making, Sinha - a former Finance Minister - said it seems the government was functioning on ventilator.
He referred to an article in the 'Economist' magazine which had reportedly dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari as lame duck.
Referring to controversy over the move to enact certain legislations with retrospective effect, Sinha claimed that in February, 2010 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written to then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Vodafone stating that there is no retrospective application of taxation.
"How did he make this statement? Was this draft prepared in the Finance Ministry? If the draft has been prepared in the Finance Ministry, I am quite sure they would not have made a crucial mistake of this kind," he said.
Referring to the controversial remarks made by Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu that major economic reforms in India would hit a roadblock and are unlikely to happen before the next Parliamentary elections in 2014, Sinha said he does not need to offer any explanation because he spoke the truth.
Slamming the government for mocking the poor, he said instead of asking MPs about the definition of poor, "professor this and professor that" are being consulted about the poverty line.
Claiming a big fall in confidence index, Sinha said corporate India has lost its confidence as it was disappointed by the Budget presented by Mukherjee.
He also questioned the government statistics and said it has become "notoriously unreliable". A Parliamentary panel had also expressed concern about it as it "projects not only the government but the entire country in a poor light."
The BJP leader also suggested that the expenditure budget should not be an exercise shrouded in secrecy.
He said though once he had said in the House that the government must go, today he wanted it to continue in its present form as it suited BJP.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}