03-05-2008, 01:18 PM
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UPA is directionless and divisive: Jaitley
Gargi Parsai
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the former Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, on Tuesday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of being âdirectionless and divisiveâ and of having âsacrificed larger interest for vote-bank politics.â It was an indecisive government that had a âdo-nothing approach,â he said.
Participating in the resumed discussion on the motion of thanks to the Presidentâs address, Mr. Jaitley said that while the government gave âkudosâ to itself in the Presidentâs address, it needed to be reminded of the âpolitical realityâ of having lost a series of elections in several States and not to live in an âillusionâ that it would govern forever.
Cites debacles
Reminding the Congress of its poll debacles in Bihar, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, he said it would be difficult for the Congress to remember when it last won an election.
Referring to Karnataka, he said the Congress was trying to use every âconstitutional reasoningâ to avert an election in the State â where Presidentâs rule ends on May 28 â just to postpone another electoral defeat.
Mr. Jaitley said the country was paying for the âpolitical insecurityâ of the Congress. He accused the government of subverting institutions â the primary institution of Prime Minister was âdevalued,â tainted Ministers found place in the Union Council of Ministers, the Central Bureau of Investigation was being misused to target political opponents such as the former Chief Ministers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the office of Governors was being used to install minority Congress governments in power. Tension was sought to be created between the âsacrosanctâ institutions of judiciary and the legislature, he alleged.
âWhen it had happened in the 70âs, the Left parties were with us. But now the Left have adopted a strange course. They want to influence the government from within and occupy opposition space outside. Time will tell how they will suffer,â he said.
Saying that inflation was high and was set to become higher, he said the government had not paid attention to the growth of infrastructure, ports, highways, rural roads, power sector reforms, high cost of health and education.
Package for farmers
On the farmersâ debt relief package, he said: âEverybody, even members of the Treasury benches, are questioning from where the Rs. 60,000 crore will come if there is no budgetary provision for it. The government did nothing for four years and, in its fifth year, resorts to desperate economics before elections. If it can be done without budgetary support, we will hail Mr. Chidambaram as the greatest magician.â
Mr. Jaitley also charged the government with divisive politics and religion-based reservation.
On the Rama Sethu project, he said the government in its affidavit had left it to the Supreme Court to decide.
It had not fulfilled its promises on the Womenâs Reservation Bill and the Telangana issue. With approaching general election, internal security had been pushed to the background for vote-bank politics, he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will give his reply to the discussion on Wednesday.
UPA is directionless and divisive: Jaitley
Gargi Parsai
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the former Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, on Tuesday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of being âdirectionless and divisiveâ and of having âsacrificed larger interest for vote-bank politics.â It was an indecisive government that had a âdo-nothing approach,â he said.
Participating in the resumed discussion on the motion of thanks to the Presidentâs address, Mr. Jaitley said that while the government gave âkudosâ to itself in the Presidentâs address, it needed to be reminded of the âpolitical realityâ of having lost a series of elections in several States and not to live in an âillusionâ that it would govern forever.
Cites debacles
Reminding the Congress of its poll debacles in Bihar, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, he said it would be difficult for the Congress to remember when it last won an election.
Referring to Karnataka, he said the Congress was trying to use every âconstitutional reasoningâ to avert an election in the State â where Presidentâs rule ends on May 28 â just to postpone another electoral defeat.
Mr. Jaitley said the country was paying for the âpolitical insecurityâ of the Congress. He accused the government of subverting institutions â the primary institution of Prime Minister was âdevalued,â tainted Ministers found place in the Union Council of Ministers, the Central Bureau of Investigation was being misused to target political opponents such as the former Chief Ministers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the office of Governors was being used to install minority Congress governments in power. Tension was sought to be created between the âsacrosanctâ institutions of judiciary and the legislature, he alleged.
âWhen it had happened in the 70âs, the Left parties were with us. But now the Left have adopted a strange course. They want to influence the government from within and occupy opposition space outside. Time will tell how they will suffer,â he said.
Saying that inflation was high and was set to become higher, he said the government had not paid attention to the growth of infrastructure, ports, highways, rural roads, power sector reforms, high cost of health and education.
Package for farmers
On the farmersâ debt relief package, he said: âEverybody, even members of the Treasury benches, are questioning from where the Rs. 60,000 crore will come if there is no budgetary provision for it. The government did nothing for four years and, in its fifth year, resorts to desperate economics before elections. If it can be done without budgetary support, we will hail Mr. Chidambaram as the greatest magician.â
Mr. Jaitley also charged the government with divisive politics and religion-based reservation.
On the Rama Sethu project, he said the government in its affidavit had left it to the Supreme Court to decide.
It had not fulfilled its promises on the Womenâs Reservation Bill and the Telangana issue. With approaching general election, internal security had been pushed to the background for vote-bank politics, he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will give his reply to the discussion on Wednesday.