 "Arun Jaitley")
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday that the quality of politics in the country needs to improve and deviation from economic policies must be avoided if India is to grow to become an economic giant.
Terming 'populism' a policy diversion practised by previous governments, Jaitley said it leads to "abandoning the economic road map". "We are on track (on economic road map) and need to expedite the process," he said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here.
Accusing the Left Front of stalling private sector investment in states such as West Bengal and Kerala - two large revenue-deficit states - he called for the private sector to invest more which will spirally lead to economic development in key sectors. "In a large country like India, it is not feasible to expect only the government and the large structured industry to create jobs," he said. According to him, liberalisation of the economy has changed "the idiom of politics" in the country.
Taking a dig at the Opposition for stalling important Bills such as the legislation on goods and services tax, he said political parties across the country need to think in terms of progress of the economy and not confine themselves to the pre-liberalisation era.
"The world's largest democracy can't function like this," Jaitley added. He further said the economy had the potential to grow faster than the current 7-7.5 per cent riding on higher public investment, more foreign direct investment as well as urban demand.
