New Delhi, March 6: Asserting that there was a credibility crisis in the Congress-led UPA government, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley Wednesday said the "dual power centre" had affected the government's decision-making.
"When the UPA came to power nine years ago, there was a buzz of excitement about India. The NDA had left power with an eight percent growth rate and now we may have less than a five percent growth rate. The atmosphere has changed from that of enthusiasm to a sense of cynicism about India," Jaitley said during a discussion on the motion of thanks to President Pranab Mukherjee for his address to the joint session of parliament on the opening day of the budget session.
"It is time for the government to reflect. Was the UPA government's model right for the world's largest democracy? There was a leadership crisis and a credibility crisis. There was a crisis on how to formulate policies. Dual power centres cannot work for policy decisions," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP leader said it was time for the government to decide how it wanted to go down in history.
"The UPA government has completed nine years. So much time is enough to change the course of a country. When the government enters its final year, it will have to decide how it wants history to write it," he said.
Jaitley's comments came soon after Congress member Renuka Chowdhury lauded the government for helping the country sail through the global economic downturn.
"We were enjoying a boom time but the world underwent a financial crisis. Our armour was dented but is still strong. We could go through the 2008 economic crisis because we had the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government and because of the sound policies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Chowdhury said initiating the discussion.
"India will continue to grow at 5.9 percent, second only to China, because of the sound economic policies of the government," she maintained.
She also said that the government was taking steps to empower women and increase the reach of education.
