Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Presidential poll candidate P A Sangma on Sunday targeted Finance Minister and UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee, holding him accountable for the country’s economic slowdown.
The former Lok Sabha Speaker said he was now hoping for a “miracle” to emerge a winner, even as he denied being a “tool” in the hands of those supporting him.
“If the rupee is at an all time low, if the international rating for credit has been downgraded, [there is] so much of corruption, who is responsible...?” he asked.
Mr. Sangma, who is supported by the BJP, the AIADMK and the BJD, was talking to reporters in Amritsar during a visit to the Golden Temple.
“You see individually, it is the Finance Minister who is responsible for price rice, for corruption, for devaluation of money and [the issue of bringing back] blackmoney...collectively the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, but individually it is the Finance Minister’s responsibility,” he said.
“Yes, miracles can and do happen in this world...it happens...I believe in miracles. You are right. I do believe in miracles,” Mr. Sangma said when it was suggested to him that only a miracle could ensure victory for him as over 60 per cent of the electorate has already extended their support to the Congress stalwart.
“Politics moves very fast...This is politics. In politics anything can happen...Things will change everyday, you just watch,” he told Karan Thapar’s Devil’s Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.
Akali support
A Punjab Government release said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, during a telephonic conversation with Mr. Sangma, assured him Shiromani Akali Dal’s “full support”. -- PTI
