NEW DELHI, Aug 30 � Warning of �short term shocks� to the economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today squarely blamed the BJP for the current economic woes, accusing it of stalling crucial reforms bills by disruption of Parliament and hurting investor sentiments, reports PTI.
Breaking his silence on the state of economy and the rapid slide in the rupee value, he made an elaborate statement in Parliament ruling out rollback of reforms and bringing in capital controls while appealing for a political consensus to put the economy back on path of high growth.
However, his efforts to weave a consensus did not meet with any success after he and the BJP got into a slug-fest over who was responsible for the current situation.
Shortly after the clash in Rajya Sabha, a delegation led by BJP leader LK Advani met President Pranab Mukhejree and sought early elections in view of Government�s inability to tackle the present crisis.
Responding to Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, who talked about investors having lost confidence in the country, Singh told Rajya Sabha that he would be the last person to deny certain events and happenings in India which were a source of concern to domestic and foreign investors.
�What are those conditions. Parliament is the supreme body in our country. If Parliament is not allowed to function session after session,� he said to strong rebuttals from the BJP benches.
Asserting that the Government would act to reduce the current account deficit and fiscal deficit to bring improvement in the economy, the Prime Minister said they would make every effort to maintain a macro economic framework friendly to foreign capital inflows to enable orderly financing of the CAD.
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.
Prime Minister said easy reforms of the past have been done but the country has more difficult reforms to do such as reduction of subsidies, insurance and pension sector reforms, eliminating bureaucratic redtape and implementing 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 Goods and Services Tax, which everyone agrees is essential to restore growth, require States to come to an agreement.
Seeking clarifications on the statement, Jaitley attacked the government for its �policy paralysis� and corruption that eroded investor confidence.
�Your idea of democracy is that when the government is in trouble, you need the help of opposition parties. This is the arrogance of Congress party and the government,� he said referring to the Prime Minister�s call for political consensus.
In uncharacteristic style, the Prime Minister hit back at the Opposition especially the BJP for stalling Parliament session after session and blocking passage of important economic legislations.
