HYDERABAD: Indicating that the nation should be prepared for tough decisions in the coming days, senior BJP leader and Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that to bring the country's economy back on the track the Centre would be forced to take tough decisions and the nation have to bear inflation for some more time.
Participating in the 114th birth anniversary programme of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee at the state party office here on Sunday, Venkaiah Naidu said that the UPA government had ruined the entire economy of the country and to set it right it would take some more time and the people of the country would to have to bear the burnt of inflation till then.
The NDA government is not looking for short term measures as it would not help people and hence the government is taking tough measures for long term benefits, he said. Coming down heavily on Congress for targeting NDA government on the price hike issue, Naidu said that the Congress has no right to criticise government on the price hike issue as it was due to its wrong policies that the nation's economy has been destroyed.
"The price hike that the nation is witnessing is due to the wrong policies of the previous UPA government. To set right the mistakes of the previous government would take some time. In fact people should be prepared for some more tough measures", he remarked.
He said that the then finance minister P Chidambaram on February 14, 2014 has said that 43.3 percent of the GDP of the country was being spent for repayments of loan interests, this shows the economic condition of the country. "Despite knowing all these things the Congress was knowingly targeting the government", he alleged.
Taking exception to Congress threatening the government over the CongressÂ’ claim on the Leader of the Opposition status, Naidu who is also holding the post of the Parliamentary affairs minister, said that the Congress is threatening that it would not allow the Parliament to run if it was not given LoP which is not correct the Congress was unnecessarily raking the issue for political gain.
“It is an issue between the Speaker and the Congress, the government side has no role in this. Speaker's decision should be adhered to and let's see how the Speaker decides. There are some conventions, rules and regulations, precedents and directions of the Speaker. They are all there before us. Everybody has to go by that," he said.
"Even during Nehru, Indira and Rajeev Gandhi regime there was no leader of opposition and still the House functioned smoothly. So why the Congress is insisting on LoP post now", he remarked. Responding to Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed's reported comments that getting the LoP position is their right and that Parliament would not run if the position is not given to their party, he said:"We know how to run the House. We would show them. The Budget session is starting tomorrow. Speaker was elected just the other day. How can they be so impatient. They had been in power for so long. The message of mandate of the people has to be understood. They have not learnt from the ignominious rout in the election. There is no need for a public debate on this. We leave it to their wisdom," he said.
Strongly opposing the reservation based on communal lines, Naidu said that his party would not accept reservation being provided to minorities based on religion. "We would not allow reservation on communal lines. Minority appeasement has not helped the minorities but in turn it has created psychological divide between majority and minority", he remarked.
He said that even senior Congress leader AK Antony in his report had told that the over use of secular agenda has cost the party dearer still the Congress government in Maharastra had went ahead with Muslim reservation in that state.
"The Congress in the name of pseudo secularism had divided the country on communal and caste line", he alleged.