'India never had it so good'

Nothing to hide and nothing to be defensive about, says UPA chief Gandhi, while PM Singh says progress during our tenure has been steady and significant

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today that economic growth in 2013-14 would be better than in 2012-13 "and could exceed six per cent".

"This will set the stage for trying to achieve the 12th Plan target of eight per cent (yearly) growth for the five-year period (till 2016-17). This, I recognise, will be difficult but is not impossible. We have done it before and if we receive a mandate next year, we will certainly achieve it once again," he said in his speech on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the start of the second term of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Seemingly in a response to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) charge that an economist Prime Minister had ruined the country's economy, the PM conceded growth had slowed to five per cent yearly but said things were much worse in the Euro zone, where the gross domestic product had declined, and in Japan and the US where it had grown very slowly. (PERFORMANCE SHEET)

Singh made it a point to mention that growth during UPA rule had been both inclusive and equitable. He said no matter how poverty was measured, it had declined and said the current slowing in growth was temporary. Domestic problems were being overcome - the fiscal deficit was under control, the current account deficit was coming down, inflation was coming down and agricultural growth was better than in any previous Plan period. He said agricultural wages grew at 6.8 per cent annually in real terms after 2004, six times faster than the rate of growth between 1994 and 2004. Rural per capita consumption grew at 3.4 per cent yearly in real terms after 2004, four times faster than the earlier 0.85 per cent growth rate.

The PM said impatience with the processes of government was not warranted. He said a lack of transparency in the system led to malfeasance but these problems were being addressed.

Sonia's speech
Singh's speech laid the grounds for a short speech by UPA chairman and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, one that was civil but aggressive. Gandhi said there was no need for the UPA to feel defensive about either charges of corruption, on which it had been uncompromising, or about its record of governance. There was no government which had done as much for the disadvantaged. No government had given higher procurement prices to farmers, education to children, rural roads and mobile connectivity. The government had navigated the global financial crisis with aplomb.

What was disappointing, she said, was the constant obstruction of Parliament. "It is my fervent plea that the government and the opposition should jointly pass the food security law and the land acquisition law, among others -- these are not partisan issues," she said. She said the Direct Benefits Transfer programme would infuse new energy in the country. "There is nothing to hide, nothing to feel defensive about." The PM, she said, had shown great dignity in the face of abuse and "we all stand by him". "We are not deterred by drummed-up noise."

In the 'report card' to the people, the government cited 42 major reform measures in the spheres of finance, banking, industry, infrastructure and taxation.

The function
There were some firsts about the dinner. For the first time, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was made to sit at the dais. In the past, he had always sat among the audience. Sonia Gandhi would finish her speech and sit at the head table, with allies sitting at her table and ministers with the PM at an adjoining one. This time, she opted to go to the food stalls, because "it is nicer to choose what to eat rather than to eat it all". She mingled with party colleagues and reporters more freely this time and was not averse to telling them off. When asked if she would lead the election campaign or Rahul Gandhi, she answered: "We will all lead it; that is the way we work, together. But you will not understand that."

However, the difference was stark - while leaders and press reporters gathered around Gandhi, many chairs at the PM's table were unoccupied until P Chidambaram motioned one of the party managers to seat some ministers there.

Rahul Gandhi disappeared quickly after the formal function was over. Former Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was present but not former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Oommen Chandy was the only Congress chief minister not present. Nor was Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.