With price rise continuing unabated, BJP stepped up its offensive against the government and claimed the Congress-led UPA is already "counting its last days".
NEW DELHI: With price rise continuing unabated, BJP on Sunday stepped up its offensive against the government and claimed the Congress-led UPA is already "counting its last days" in the last year of its tenure.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, BJP President Rajnath Singh at the party's National Executive said that under their "highly learned and expert" leadership prices are still uncontrollable and the market is in disarray.
This, he said, meant that the government's basic economic policy and its economic intention is "grossly flawed".
Making light of the 2008-09 Union Budget, he said "probably our Finance Minister has also fallen prey to the psychology of modern marketing."
"He (Finance Minister) packaged and promoted the Budget, but if the product itself lacks strength then both the product and economic system are doomed to fail in the market," he told the Executive.
Making fun of the presentation of the report card by the UPA on its fourth anniversary, Singh said, "we believe that the real report card of the UPA has been presented through the mandate of the people ... of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka over the last one year."
Besides, he claimed that today's price rise is multi- dimensional. "This was because not only have prices risen, but the availability of products have also been impacted," he added.
Singh also spoke about food crisis, farmer suicides, spurt in terrorism, dissatisfaction among armed forces over the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and problem of illegal immigration to attack the government.
The BJP chief took exception to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's recent comments that development cannot be sacrificed for the sake of inflation.
"Is development possible only by pressing the common man under the burden of inflation?" he asked the Government leaders asserting that the "BJP will never accept a policy that seeks to build a palace by sacrificing a hut."
Singh also did not buy government arguments on international scenario that has led to the inflation.
"Does the government today have to face an international scenario that is worse than facing aggression and international sanctions. The government is nearly making excuses to cover up their incapability in controlling inflation," he said.
On farmer suicides, he appealed to all political parties to collectively build pressure on the government to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the agrarian crisis.
In the session, the government should present for discussion a new 10-year long-term programme for solving the agrarian and food crisis, he added.
The BJP chief was also critical of the PDP's demand that Pakistani currency be allowed to be circulated in Kashmir and the Left demand for the end of the Salva Judum movement in Chhattisgarh, formed to fight Naxals.
On the record of the UPA government, he said it had to face the irritation of the court on numerous occasions, be it the Sachar Committee report or reservation of jobs for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh or selecting an alternate route for the Sethu Samudram project.
Singh charged the Leftists with heaping atrocities on hapless workers and farmers in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal.
"The manner in which the Leftists have used violence not only in West Bengal but also in Kannur in Kerala clearly reflects their undemocratic and violent mindset," he remarked alleging that the Left had always supported violence and reaction.
He said the "loss of mandate" for the CPI(M) in the just- concluded Panchayat elections was the first sign of erosion of its base in West Bengal.
Singh also attacked the government on the issue of foreign policy.
He said the relationship with the US has been centralized to only one issue -- the nuclear deal -- and even on that the government has not been able to take a decision, while the traditional warmth with Russia is missing.
On China, he said Beijing's attitude on Arunachal Pradesh for the last one year has been "completely contrary" to cordial relations and a few days ago the Communist nation even raises its claim over a portion of Sikkim.
"The government should clearly present the true picture before the country. It appears that the government is either not serious on the sensitive subject of national security or because of the pressure of its Left allies is willing to ignore China's activity," he added.
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