‘A non-politician as PM has paralysed Indian economy’
23 Dec 2013 3:17 AM IST
‘India cannot afford a non-politician as a Prime Minister... India must now realise that this whole experiment, (where) you can have corporates running in this manner, you can’t have the world’s largest democracy running in this manner,’ Jaitley said addressing top industry leaders at the Ficci annual general meeting here.
He said Prime Ministers are never judged by the number of years they remain in office, but by the decisions they give as far as the economy is concerned. ‘Prime Ministership is not like an employment. Prime Ministers must always have the last word in a government. Prime Ministers can never look helpless. Prime Ministers can never go back with the feeling that I’m not being allowed to deliver,’ Jaitley pointed out.
Commenting on the UPA style of governance where the Prime Minister did not have the last word, he said, ‘You created systems outside the normal government and those systems outside were at variance with the directions which are required to be given to the economy.’
The Opposition leader said the ‘policy paralysis’ that has gripped the present government has hit the ‘brand India’ image internationally and this has resulted in the reversal of the investment cycle. Calling for restoring and reviving the investment cycle, Jaitley said, ‘This whole movement will have to stop…. All this is hurting brand India, the image of India, the investment image of India and that’s where we need a Prime Minister who says this is not acceptable.’
He said that if India has grown at 8 to 9 per cent despite ‘inadequate’ governments, it has the potential to grow still higher. Expressing optimism, he said, ‘I think we have come to a stage that the only silver lining is that things can’t go worse.’
On the need for social sector schemes, Jaitley said, ‘You have a market economy but with a social conscience. That is the model which broadly governments in some large or small measures have followed…. But poverty alleviation schemes on a so-called social consciousness were almost read synonymously as a system on which you buy votes.’
He said Prime Ministers are never judged by the number of years they remain in office, but by the decisions they give as far as the economy is concerned. ‘Prime Ministership is not like an employment. Prime Ministers must always have the last word in a government. Prime Ministers can never look helpless. Prime Ministers can never go back with the feeling that I’m not being allowed to deliver,’ Jaitley pointed out.
Commenting on the UPA style of governance where the Prime Minister did not have the last word, he said, ‘You created systems outside the normal government and those systems outside were at variance with the directions which are required to be given to the economy.’
The Opposition leader said the ‘policy paralysis’ that has gripped the present government has hit the ‘brand India’ image internationally and this has resulted in the reversal of the investment cycle. Calling for restoring and reviving the investment cycle, Jaitley said, ‘This whole movement will have to stop…. All this is hurting brand India, the image of India, the investment image of India and that’s where we need a Prime Minister who says this is not acceptable.’
He said that if India has grown at 8 to 9 per cent despite ‘inadequate’ governments, it has the potential to grow still higher. Expressing optimism, he said, ‘I think we have come to a stage that the only silver lining is that things can’t go worse.’
On the need for social sector schemes, Jaitley said, ‘You have a market economy but with a social conscience. That is the model which broadly governments in some large or small measures have followed…. But poverty alleviation schemes on a so-called social consciousness were almost read synonymously as a system on which you buy votes.’
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