Mangalore: UPA government is mastering art of 'declinology' - Arun Jaitley
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (DV)
Mangalore, Apr 27: Arun Jaitely, senior BJP leader and leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha described UPA government at the centre as a master in the art of ‘declinology’ and said the party is indulging in the management of declining governance.
In a special address on “India 2020 – Issues and Concerns' organized by Citizens Council, Mangalore, at Sangha Niketan on Saturday April 27 evening Arun Jaitely said, “Former President of India Abdul Kalam had a vision to make India a super power by 2020 and it was a defining moment for India’s national aspirations. But India wasted last few crucial years and as such goalpost has been shifted behind. Today the economy is in shackles because of widespread corruption. Crucial years have been wasted in shamelessly trying to cover up corruption."
Being the largest democracy in the world, he said India needs good governance, clarity, determination, a sense of resilience among the people and also need to overcome the absence of a decisive leadership. “When we have a weak government at the centre the decline is visible in every field. This is not just exaggeration but hard fact. India is in need of clarity of firmness, a leadership which is patriotic and is able to defend our sovereignty”, he declared.
Pointing out to China’s incursion, he said “China has entered 19 kms into Indian Territory and our government must have a strategy to deal with the situation. But sadly the centre is clueless and being clueless is not one of the strategies to deal with the situation,” he pointed out. He said we need to visualize India 2020 in the midst of the challenges it faces including our relationship with our neighbouring countries. Pointing out that we are not able to deal decisively even with a small country like Maldives he said India has been facing problems from all its frontiers. “We cannot afford to allow the Maldievan islands to become havens for extremists,” he stated.
"Pakistan has been involved in many provocative acts like cross-border terrorism. It has fought many conventional wars and lost each. We had given a fitting response, but now cross-border terrorism, beheading of soldiers, and insurgence into India's terroritory are not considered as serious issues. The condiction of Indian prisoner in Pakistan is criticial. All this is because of collapse of leadership in the central government," he said.
“We have unsettled border with Bangladesh and there is illegal migration which has changed the demography of Assam and other north eastern states. There is threat not just to our democracy but threat to our very security. We have a government at the centre which is encouraging illegal immigration. This is the foremost example of vote bank politics destroying India."
Jaitely also pointed out that the real worth of our democracy will be realized only when the myth of the family charisma is destroyed and proven ability is given priority. Taking a dig at the dynastic politics of Congress he said that leadership allocation on the basis of being born in a particular family and not because of proven performance, is a great injustice done to the people of the country.
He said a weak coalition anchor at the centre, insurgency, illegal migration, Kashmir issue, conversion of our expanding population into economic resource, lack of stability, vote bank politics and the issue of extremist forces disguising as political parties are some of the challenges faced by India in its dream of India 2020.
Jaitley also commented on the functioning of the CBI and termed it the police agency of Congress. "The CBI is never allowed to do its job honestly. Earlier the interfernce was behind the scenes but now it is in the open," he said.
Taking a dig at Sonia Gandhi who referred to moral policing in her address in the city earlier in the day, he said, "When it is fringe groups, it is moral policing. When there is inteference in CBI will she call it immoral policing?"
"Leadership cannot be created from family dynasties but through proven ability. It is great injustice if it stems from dynasty, caste or religion," he added.
The main challenges we need to overcome to reach the doorstep of a developed nation in 2020 are poverty, health and providing good infrastructure, he said.
He cited insurgency, cross-border terrorism, Kashmir issue, Maoist threat and extremist forces in the guise of political parties as some of the challenges faced by the nation. "The people in Kashmir should be treated in a friendly manner, and be extremely unfriendly towards separatists and the idea of separatism. Maoist problem is a social one where the ideology is concentrated among the poor. This is ideological dictatorship and not democracy. We need to stabilise the population and convert it into economic resource with the help of educational institutions." he said.
"Extremists forces disguised as political parties are in Assam, UP, Mumbai and Hyderabad. This kind of polity should end," he added.
He also spoke on the country's economy which he said would have seen better growth if there had been better governance at the centre. Though the states are doing well, there is a kind of 'policy paralysis' at the centre which has hindered growth, he said.
Guest of honour Brig I N Rai also talked about the challenges faced by India. S Ganesh Rao, chairman of Karavali Group of Colleges presided over the function.
In a press meet earlier in the evening, he briefly mentioned the above points on Chinese incursion and inablility of the government to face the situation. He also said that the logjam in Parliament is the creation of the government, and that the JPC should support the truth.
On the upcoming Assembly polls, he said five years ago the BJP got an opportunity to govern Karnataka. "We grew quite rapidly in the state, facing all challenges along the way. We also learnt by experience. We have faced challenges and conflicts. We found compromises and stood by our ideals. We will continue to serve the people of Karnataka," he said.
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