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In his maiden speech as leader of the Upper House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the election result was an important statement and investors around the world have started looking at India once again.
Accusing his predecessor of leaving the economy in a shambles, he said the NDA has inherited an economy growing at less than 5 per cent.
Jaitley, while intervening in the thanksgiving motion to the President’s address on Tuesday, pointed out that the UPA had inherited an economy that was growing at 8.5 per cent. He said the current rate of growth was possible even without a Government at the Centre. “The investment cycle is broken. If you don’t have investments, there will be no jobs for people,” Jaitley said.
He said the new Government will work keeping in mind the people’s hopes for change. “The election results have become an important political statement. Once again, domestic and foreign investors have started looking at India,” he said.
Economy shattered He said that, as the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh did not have any political authority, did not have the last word on decision-making and did not take corrective measures on the 2G, coal block allocation and retrospective taxation issues. “The enthusiasm in the Indian economy was shattered. Domestic investors were moving out. If there is no investment, there is no job. You have left the country, in your own words, not at poverty alleviation, but at elevated poverty,” Jaitley said.
He said the first right of all the country’s resources will be to the poor. He said priority will be given for the development of neglected areas such as the North-Eastern region. Jaitley said the poll results have disappointed those who believed that support for caste or religion would help them win elections, even if their administration was poor. “It was after decades that we saw massive crowds at rallies. And they were not paid crowds. They came because it was a larger expression of hope, which had grown out of helplessness. The burden on our government will be higher as the people expect us to perform,” he said.
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