BJP leaders to meet on Saturday to discuss economic situation

The Chief Ministers of the states ruled by the BJP and key party leaders will meet here on Saturday to discuss the present economic situation in the country, party leader Yashwant Sinha said on Thursday.

Sinha said the meeting would focus on three issues -- impact of economic crisis on the states, impact of drought-like situation, and the ‘step-motherly treatment’ by the central government to the BJP-ruled states. The meeting will be attended by the party’s central leaders, Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers, and key Opposition leaders from states where the BJP is not in power.

“The nation is going through a very serious economic situation. Even the growth that has happened is jobless growth. Employment generation is not at the level it should have been. Rating agencies are constantly downgrading India’s rating, and there is a complete policy paralysis on the government’s part,’’ Sinha said.

Sinha blamed that the Congress-led UPA Government has made a mockery of the federal structure and is giving non-Congress state governments a step-motherly treatment. Discrimination is rampant in the allocation of funds or natural resources. Legislation passed by the state legislatures are kept pending at the central level at will. There is a long list of pending projects. In Independent India’s history, centre-state relations have never been worse.

“No effective strategy has been evolved by the central government to handle the situation arising out of the failure of monsoon rains and the onset of drought-like conditions,” he blamed. “There is crony capitalism on one hand, and return of license quota raj on other hand,’’ he said. He, however, added that the meeting has ‘no negative aim.’

“We want to see, compared to the Centre, what our states are doing to deal with this situation,’’ he added.

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The New Indian Express
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