Thaindian News

Patna, June 13 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday described the first year of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s second stint as disappointing, just like the “general unsatisfactory record” of UPA-I.
“Like the general unsatisfactory record of UPA-I, UPA II has equally been a year of disappointment and non-achievement. Declarations have been made but delivery has been very poor,” the party said in a resolution adopted at its national executive meet here.

The party strongly criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he had not been able to curb the price rise despite being an economist.

The resolution said: “Containing price rise was on top of the agenda… The common man continues to suffer… Now it is close to three years that the prices have been rising and that too under a government headed by an economist like Dr. Manmohan Singh.”

“Foodgrain stocked in government godowns is rotting while its availability in the market at affordable prices continues to remain problematic.”

Accusing the government of being soft on terror and condemning the delay in clearing the file of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the BJP said: “The most shameful confirmation for this is the public acknowledgement by Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit that she was pressurised by the former home minister Shivraj Patil not to take any action on the plea of pardon of Afzal Guru.”

“The UPA is soft on terror. It continues to give repeated signals to terrorists and their patrons both within the country and across the border that strong action against them is tradable for votes… Maoists continue to kill and massacre with impunity,” the party said.

The resolution said the first year of UPA-II shows the “inability of the prime minister” to take any action against “notorious cases of corruption”, referring to the 2G spectrum scam, and accused UPA ministers of “lobbying for IPL (Indian Premier League) franchise”.

The resolutiion said: “The national exchequer suffered a loss of about Rs.60,000 crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum and now, when the CBI in the investigation has found the allegation to be substantially true, the prime minister is unable to exert his authority and remove the minister concerned.”

The party alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was being misused by the Congress-led UPA.

“The unashamed misuse of CBI has become a permanent feature of the UPA governance whether it is UPA-I or UPA-II… Even authorised and un-authorised phone tapping was resorted to manage and tackle the opposition. Lobbyists continue to operate inside and outside the government.”

“The BJP is determined to fulfil the historic responsibility of a nationalist opposition,” the resolution added.