The former Union Commerce Minister and Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said it was unfair to charge the Manmohan Singh government with leaving behind an economy in tatters.
Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on President’s address on Wednesday, an emotionally charged Sharma said the economic track record of the UPA had to be evaluated against the backdrop of the global economic meltdown.
“It is true the NDA had left a relatively robust economy, but it was a beneficiary of a healthy global economy. We sustained the growth rate till 2008. The economy began experiencing difficulties only after the world financial crisis… It is uncharitable to suggest that the UPA did nothing as if we were going to office and going back home.”
Mr. Sharma reeled off statistics on the achievements of the UPA in various fields.
Another senior UPA Minister Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP of having “reaped the benefits of communal polarisation” in the Lok Sabha elections and said the government should now concentrate on good governance and development.
Mr. Ramesh said the mandate received by the BJP was a consequence of polarisation on the ground and not just on the plank of development. Expressing disappointment over the President’s address not talking about the work done by the previous government, he said governance was also about “continuity”.
D. Raja (Communist Party of India) stressed the need for protecting the architecture of social and political rights enshrined in the Constitution. “It is important to uphold the Constitution and constitutional morality in the context of protecting human rights.”
Attacking the BJP for saying that the Congress had been reduced to being a regional party by getting only 44 Lok Sabha seats, Ashwani Kumar (Congress) said a 31 per cent vote did not give a mandate of the majority. “How can you have a federal cooperation, unless you have political cooperation?” he asked.
Trinamool Congress member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy urged the government to re-visit the economic liberalisation policy and go in for “reforming the reforms.”
Chandan Mitra (BJP) said the new dispensation was a “government of hope”, while B. Jayashree (nominated) sought a scheme for performing arts and artists.
