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Saturday, July 16, 2005
Sell out
Manmohan Singh finally gets pissed off by the poisonous and irresponsible rhetoric of the left. Rediff reports:
In another good piece, TN Ninan writes about how "the worst fears that had been aroused by the Left's initial sabre-rattling have come true and the general expectations of what the UPA government can do by way of economic reform have now reached minimalist proportions." And yet, he points out, the stock market is booming. "[T]he economy," he writes, "will do well even if the government does precisely nothing."
Well, yes, the momentum of the reforms that have already happened may sustain itself, but we could so easily be growing at 10-12 percent instead of seven percent if reforms had been adequately carried out. The fault for that not happening, alas, must lie with more than just the left parties.
Reacting sharply to the allegations of a "sell out" to the United States, levelled notably by the Left parties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared on Saturday that he would safeguard national interests "till the end of my life".On a related note, Shekhar Gupta points out that "the people of India never voted for the CMP [common minimum programme]", which is effectively being imposed on the people against their will. Gupta also analyses how the Left's gameplan may be to "pull down the UPA government at the 'right' moment, on some high populist issue, and then put together a third front-type coalition after another election."
En route to Washington for discussions with President George W Bush, he told journalists on board his special aircraft that such allegations were an insult to the Congress.
"Can you imagine any prime minister consciously or unconsciously selling India? Nobody can sell India. India is not on sale," he asserted adding, "nobody has to teach us lessons on patriotism." [Hyperlink in original report.]
In another good piece, TN Ninan writes about how "the worst fears that had been aroused by the Left's initial sabre-rattling have come true and the general expectations of what the UPA government can do by way of economic reform have now reached minimalist proportions." And yet, he points out, the stock market is booming. "[T]he economy," he writes, "will do well even if the government does precisely nothing."
Well, yes, the momentum of the reforms that have already happened may sustain itself, but we could so easily be growing at 10-12 percent instead of seven percent if reforms had been adequately carried out. The fault for that not happening, alas, must lie with more than just the left parties.
