UPA Has Failed: Nitin Gadkari

Bharatiya Janata Party National president Nitin Gadkari termed the first year of the second term of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre as a total failure.

Talking to media persons on his arrival in the state for a 3-day visit, Gadkari charged the ruling Congress government with failing to keep its promise of solving the price rise problem within the first 100 days of its term. He said that prices of several commodities have gone up by 100%, and that they prices continue to be a matter of deep concern for the common man.

The BJP president said that the UPA government has miserably failed in also controlling the growth of poverty, unemployment, growth of inflation, farmers' suicides and unending hardships to the common man.

He said that Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had released the UPA's Report Card on May 29 which admitted that 'one of the major problems that we face at present is the pressure on prices.' The Report Card also said that 'we will continue to monitor the situation very carefully and take whatever corrective steps are necessary to rein in inflation'.

Gadkari said that the Report Card had hinted at a selective ban on exports and future trading in food grains. He said that the Union government has claimed a 7.4% GDP growth for the year 2009-10, but ironically, agriculture growth has remained at just 0.2% during the same period. The prices of electricity, fertiliser, seeds and diesel have shot up drastically, he said.

The BJP president said that water is a major issue that the country is facing today. The highly potential and much needed river linking project of the BJP-led NDA government had been shelved by the Congress government, he claimed.

He said that in South India, the issue of water and rivers has remained unresolved. Hardly any attention has been paid to the formation of the South India River Grid and the interlinking of south-Indian rivers like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery, he said

Gadkari said that the demands for construction of major and minor dams and other irrigation schemes are still pending.

On the matter of agriculture, he said the agriculture growth in Gujarat is 14% while that in the rest of India is 0.2%; and asked the Andhra Pradesh government to learn a lesson from Gujarat on how to increase agriculture produce.

He demanded that top priority should be given to agro-infrastructure, and that benefit of growth should percolate down to the poorest of the poor.

Gadkari also demanded that proper funds be allocated for agriculture development and agriculture infrastructure.

He said that water and river interlinking projects should be taken up on a war footing, along with the proper management of foodgrains and horticulture storage.

The BJP president demanded a full-fledged storage plan for the next 25 years, in which the government ought to enter into a partnership with the farmers with 50% government subsidy and 45% finance at 4% of interest annually and 5% contribution from the farmers.

Gadkari also criticized the AP state government, accusing it of having failed on all fronts in the first year of second term in office. He said that there is chaos on all fronts, with Naxalism spreading, the political leadership of the ruling party sharply divided on all major issues, and the state facing a financial crunch.

He charged the state government with trying to withdraw welfare schemes like fee reimbursements and scholarships to BC/EBC/SC/STs.

Courtesy: INN News