Criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP poll campaign chief Narendra Modi on Wednesday challenged the UPA for early elections. Modi said that in order to hold early elections the UPA Government would need to take a decision, but from nine years, the Congress-led Government is suffering from indecisiveness.
Addressing as chief guest at an award function of a leading television channel, the Gujarat Chief Minister said that just like Indian rupee, the UPA is also in the process of devaluation. “At the time of the Independence, the value of rupee was equivalent to that of a dollar. But due to poor policies of various Congress Governments, rupee has been devaluated. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, value of rupee was Rs 42 against US dollar and it only decreased 4 per cent when he exited. But later, under the UPA Government rupee went to an all-time low,” he said.
Criticising Manmohan Singh’s statement that money don’t grow on trees, Modi said, “we believe that money grows on fields by farmers and rupees grow in factories and with hard work labours can grow money.” He said that because of the wrong policies of the Congress Government, the country has been facing acute crisis of electricity. “Despite coal mines and ready infrastructure of 20,000-MW power generation capacity, the country is short of electricity. It is nothing but policy paralysis. In Gujarat, people are getting 24 hour uninterrupted power supply.”
Calling Manmohan’s Government pessimistic, Modi said that if policies are formed and executed in the right direction, there is a solution for every problem. “We are optimistic and we believe that we can put the country on the path of progress,” he said. Modi said that UPA’ s policies have led to increasing imports and stagnant exports.