The Rajya Sabha on Friday saw a beleaguered Prime Minister, cornered by the Opposition on the plight of the country’s economy, getting into a combative mood.
This rare show of temper by the normally reticent PM, who has often been criticised for silence on major issues affecting the country, resulted in a verbal duel between Manmohan Singh and leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley.
While Manmohan Singh blamed the Opposition for the current grim economic situation in the country, citing repeated disruptions of Parliament as the reason behind the slipping investor confidence, Jaitley shot back and said the country did not want to hear “alibis for failure” and remarked that Singh’s statement was like “a failed candidate claiming that the whole class has failed.”
The Prime Minister held the main Opposition party responsible for not allowing the ruling combine to govern and said the BJP never reconciled to its electoral defeat in consecutive general elections.
He then went on to criticise the BJP for repeatedly disrupting Parliament “session after session” and lamented that he was insulted by the Opposition. “Have you ever heard that a Prime Minister is not allowed to introduce his Cabinet Ministers to the HouseIJ” Singh said, adding, “Have you heard of members rushing into the Well of the House shouting derogatory slogans against the Prime MinisterIJ"
These remarks by Singh sparked angry exchanges between the Treasury and BJP benches. Jaitley then hit back with a telling poser: “Have you ever heard that a Prime Minister won a vote of confidence by buying membersIJ”
This remark drew a noisy reaction from Congress members. In his clarifications on the status of the economy, in the backdrop of the sliding rupee, the PM tried to hold the BJP responsible for sending a wrong signal to domestic and international investors by holding Parliament to ransom by protests on the issue of corruption even though various institutions and courts were “grappling with these issues.”
Claiming that “it is the collective responsibility of the Opposition and ruling party to send out a positive message to the world,” Singh said the Opposition should realise its responsibility in this regard and remarked that political consensus cannot be achieved “unilaterally on various issues as you need two hands to clap.”
Not willing to buy this argument, Jaitley attacked the Government for its “policy paralysis” and said corruption had eroded investors” confidence and dented the image of India in world business arena.
As regards consensus, he said: “Your idea of democracy is that when the Government is in trouble, you need the help of Opposition parties. This is the arrogance of the Congress party and the Government.”
He also said: "We would like to know what the PM intends to do for reviving the economy. We don't want to hear alibis for failure." "After me there is the deluge," will be the legacy of the PM, Jaitley said, adding that the current economic situation was the result of the political leadership losing confidence of investors. He also underlined that a larger political consensus needs a conducive environment.
Jaitley pointed out that the economic mess was the result of a policy paralysis and not caused by external factors as claimed by the PM. He reminded the PM that the whole world was warning India about the emerging financial crisis but the Government preferred to adopt populist policies. "I'm afraid you are still doing it," he said.
Responding to posers by BJP members over irregularities, including in coal block allocations, he said in the Rajya Sabha that "corruption is there, has been there." He contended that corruption, which was "regrettable," was exposed during the recent years because of the RTI and activism of various agencies of the Government.
While Jaitley and the Prime Minister dueled, a visibly upset Singh retorted that he was not the "custodian" of files of the Coal Ministry but made it clear that no guilty person would be protected by the Government. His remark about custodian of files came when V Maitreyan (AIADMK) asked about the missing files. At this, BJP member Prakash Javadekar asked, "Then who is (responsible for the missing files)"IJ
Asserting that the Government would act to reduce the Current Account Deficit and fiscal deficit to improve the economy, the PM said they would make every effort to maintain a macro-economic framework friendly to foreign capital inflows. The sudden dip in the exchange rate is "certainly a shock" but the Government would address it through other measures and not through capital controls or reversing economic reforms, he said.
The PM said easy reforms of the past were undertaken but the country has more difficult reforms to bring, such as reduction of subsidies, insurance and pension sector reforms, eliminating bureaucratic red tape and implementing Goods and Services Tax (GST). "These are not low hanging fruits and need political consensus. It is here that I urge Members across the political spectrum to reflect on the need of the hour. Many laws that are necessary are held up for lack of political consensus. Reforms such as the GST, which everyone agrees is essential to restore growth, require States to come to an agreement."
Singh said there may be short term shocks to the economy and "we need to face them. We will need to ensure that the fundamentals remain strong so that India continues to grow at a healthy rate for many years to come. That we will ensure. We are no doubt faced with challenges, but we have the capacity to address them." The BJP later staged a walk out claiming it was not satisfied with the Prime Minister's statement.