NDA govt has messed up economy, is mismanaging J&K: Manmohan

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the NDA government, accusing it of having “messed up” the economy and mismanaging the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at the party plenary, the former Prime Minister said: “The BJP government made tall promises. PM Modi himself said that his government will double farmers’ incomes. For that, a growth rate of 12 per cent per annum is necessary, which is unthinkable in the current scenario.” Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proclivity for “jumlebaazi” (empty rhetoric), Dr Singh charged that the work done by this government falls short of the claims made by its leaders.

Attacking the government on the economy, Dr Singh said: “The BJP claimed in 2014 that if it came to power it would provide two crore jobs. But we have not seen even two lakh jobs.” He also added that the “ill-thought and ill-conceived” demonetisation plan and “hastily put forward” legislation on GST had destroyed many jobs and created problems for the small and medium scale and the informal sector, both in terms of production and providing jobs.

From foreign policy and defence to the economy, Dr Singh spoke on a range of issues, and was accorded a thunderous applause and standing ovation by the party leaders. Indicating the tensions inherent in the alliance of the BJP and PDP, parties with a huge ideological gap, Dr Singh said: “They have installed a government where the two wings of the administration are working against each other.” He further added: “The Modi government has mismanaged Jammu and Kashmir like never before, the atmosphere is deteriorating day in and day out, that is obvious from the fact that our borders are insecure, be it cross-border terror or internal terror.” Noting the cut in the defence budget, Dr Singh said: “The defence expenditure of our country is no more than 1.6 per cent of our GDP. This is far too inadequate to meet the challenges of our security apparatus and our needs.”

On Pakistan, Dr Singh said India must recognise it as a neighbour but expressed concern over Islamabad’s support to cross-border terrorism. “That certainly is not acceptable to us. We must, therefore, warn Pakistan that this is a path which is mutually destructive of peace and prosperity in the subcontinent,” he said. Giving suggestions on the issue, he said: “It is as much in the interest of Pakistan as in the interest of India that our two countries must sort out all problems sitting together peacefully and give up this path of support of terrorist elements emanating from across the border.”