Reeling off statistics of growth and development and contrasting them with those during the NDA reign, an aggressive Prime Minister took on Opposition BJP in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday saying the party would meet the same fate at the hustings as it had in 2004 and 2009 elections.
A combative Manmohan Singh, while winding up the discussion on a motion of thanks on the President’s address, said the BJP had hurled choicest of abuses at the Congress and its leading lights during its recent meet in Delhi, but “he would not reply to them in the same language”.
The usually soft-spoken Manmohan employed an Urdu couplet and a Hindi proverb to hit out at the BJP, only to be replied in the same coin by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who used another two couplets in her argument.
Humko hai unse wafa ki ummid, jo nahin jaante ki wafa kya hai, Singh said, implying that it was meaningless to expect any support from the BJP and Jo garajte hain wo baraste nahin, meaning those who shout at their loudest, do not follow it up with the requisite action.
Not to take things lying down, Swaraj retorted as soon as the Prime Minister concluded his speech. She said: Kuch to majburian rahi hongi, yu hi koi bewafa nahin hota (There must have been some compulsions in not extending support).
Manmohan-led government was betraying the nation and hence the party could not support the government, she detailed.
Poetry session apart, BJP president Rajnath Singh said such aggression was not seen in the Prime Minister in the last nine years. Employing an earthy Hindi proverb, Rajnath said “the unusual aggression was the last flicker before it got extinguished”.
Manmohan, however, was unsparing in his criticism. “In 2009, they fielded the ironman Advaniji against the lamb that Manmohan Singh is and we all know what the result was. I am convinced that if the people of India were to look at our record in these nine or 10 years, they would repeat what they did in 2004 and 2009,” he said, to the thunderous applause from treasury benches.
The Prime Minister spoke about good governance, foreign policy matters and economy and presented statistics to show that his government had indeed outperformed that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “What has been achieved by us is not something that can be belittled as Rajnath Singh tried to do,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the country would get back to the growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent in the next two years.
In his 45-minute speech, he noted that the average economic growth rate in nine years of UPA rule was 7.9 per cent, while that of the six years of NDA rule was 6 per cent. Similarly, average industrial growth rate in the last nine years was 8.5 per cent, while it was 5.6 per cent during the NDA rule.
The Prime Minister claimed poverty declined at the rate of 2 per cent per annum during the UPA regime, while it was no more than 0.8 per cent in the NDA.
“Inequality is not increasing... Even bimaru states have done much better in the UPA period,” Manmohan said. He also cited the growth in areas of higher education, skill development and environment protection.
Manmohan added the country had under the present government handled foreign policy issues well and there was a growing appreciation for India in international circles.
Backing his Cabinet colleagues, especially Finance Minister P Chidambaram, he said the government was committed to its good governance ideals. Though not fully satisfied with what had been achieved, the government would highlight what had been achieved during the next elections, the Prime Minister said.