PM hits back: ‘UPA growth rate better’

“The Shining India campaign led to disastrous results. In 2009,they (BJP) fielded the ‘Iron Man’ (L K Advani) against the lamb that Manmohan Singh is,and we know what the result was,” the PM said in his vote of thanks in the Lok Sabha,concluding the reply to the presidential address to Parliament.

With the Opposition,including BJP president Rajnath Singh,criticising several government policies mentioned in the President’s address,the PM today compared the six years of NDA rule and the UPA’s nine years on key economic indicators. “What has been achieved by this government cannot be belittled as Rajnath Singh sought to do. The best I can do is to compare nine years of UPA with six years of NDA,people can compare and decide what has been done,” he said.

The PM said the average growth rate in the last nine years has been 7.9 per cent,while during the NDA tenure it was no more than 6 per cent. Similarly,agriculture growth during the UPA rule was 3.5 per cent,as compared to the NDA’s 2.9 per cent per year,he said.

In response,Rajnath Singh described the PM’s combative posture as the “final burst of a dying flame”.

On Lanka,an issue raised by key ally DMK on Wednesday,the PM said India’s final position at the United Nations would depend on the final text of the draft. “Members have raised the issue of human rights violations in Sri Lanka — government takes the sentiment very seriously. We have consistently called upon the government of Sri Lanka to fulfill public commitment for the implementation of the 13th amendment,” he said.

On India’s other neighbour,Pakistan,he said there isn’t any solid evidence to suggest that Islamabad has dismantled its terror infrastructure.

Responding to the issue of safety of women,Singh said the government would fast-track any legislative measures that the House agrees upon. “The entire House needs to speak in one voice on this,” he said.