Amid high-pitched protests against spiraling fuel prices during Bharat Bandh, the ruling BJP on Monday threw a debate challenge at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Amid high-pitched protests against spiraling fuel prices during Bharat Bandh, the ruling BJP on Monday threw a debate challenge at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad came down heavily on Singh for his ‘crossing all limits’ remark. Earlier in the day, during protests at Rajghat, Singh had said that, ‘the Narendra Modi government has done a lot which is not in the interest of the nation and has now crossed all limits.’
Challenging Dr Singh, who was prime minister between 2004 and 2014, for a debate on the country's economy in Parliament, Prasad said that the Congress leader should leave the job of making stray remarks to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and engage in a constructive debate with him.
The BJP also defended the rise in oil prices, attributing it to global factors, and accused the Congress and other opposition parties of resorting to violence during the 'Bharat Bandh' as people did not support their call.
Prasad acknowledged that the people were facing "momentary difficulty" due to increasing petrol and diesel prices and said they understand that this was due to factors beyond the control of the central government.
Noting that oil prices had gone down after the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in May 2014, before they went up, he said it is a problem whose solution is not in its hands.
"We are standing with people in their problem. We are trying to redress the issue and will do that," he told a press conference.
Prasad claimed that the people understood the government's point of view and refused to support the 'Bharat Bandh' call given by the Congress and several other opposition parties.
"That is unnerving the Congress and other opposition parties. Their resort to violence is designed to overawe the people of India. An atmosphere of fear is being created," he said.
Citing the death of a three-year old girl in Bihar as she could not get medical help in time due to pro-Bandh protesters allegedly stopping an ambulance, he asked if Congress president Rahul Gandhi will take responsibility for this.
Hitting out at the Congress and other opposition parties, Prasad said they should stop this "dance of violence and game of death".
Normal life was hit in some states Monday with offices and educational institutes closed and vehicles off the roads during an opposition sponsored 'Bharat Bandh', which was largely peaceful, barring some incidents of violence.
The ruling party in a first extensive briefing on the rise in oil prices highlighted the government's expenditure on a number of welfare schemes, in an attempt to show that the revenue it has earned from taxes on petroleum products has been used for "pro-poor" measures.
Prasad said the government spends over Rs 1.62 lakh crore on subsidised food, lakhs of crores of rupees on building national highways and rural roads, and has given over one crore houses to the rural poor.
It has also spent thousands of crores on rural employment guarantee schemes among others, he said.
Our government is not a "family-run" dispensation, he said, taking a dig at the Congress, and claimed that it has been working for the poor and lifted over 5 crore people from extreme poverty.
He also dismissed allegations levelled by Gandhi against the government, saying the country is most worried when the Congress president speaks.
Referring to global factors behind the oil price rise, he cited the decision of several oil-producing countries to reduce supply, the political instability in Venezuela and the US sanctions on Iran.
Asked if the government can cut down on excise duty to bring down the prices, Prasad said it was done last year.
He said states can also cut down taxes levied by them, but added that it should be left to their wisdom as they also spend money on welfare schemes.
Oil prices, he said, had also gone up during the UPA government's rule with the cost of a litre of petrol going up from Rs 39 to Rs 71.
Government sources said the price of petrol had gone up by 20.5 per cent between May 2004 and May 2009, the UPA's first term, and then by 75.48 per cent in the next first years of its rule.
They added that its cost during the Modi government's rule has gone up by only 13 per cent as it moved from Rs 71.41 to Rs 80.73. These prices are of Delhi.
The Congress has, however, said oil prices rose during the UPA as international crude cost was much higher than what it is during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Prasad said the NDA government has brought down the inflation rate to 4.7 per cent from the 10.4 per cent it was during the UPA.
(With PTI inputs)
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