Nirmala attacks UPA policies, blames 'leadership problem'

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday continued her attack on the 10-year rule of the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, saying that it suffered from a "leadership problem" as an "extra-constitutional" body the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi - ran the government, which was the reason for India being clubbed in what was known as "Fragile Five" economies.

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Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the discussions related to the White Paper that the minister released a day earlier, Sitharaman also contrasted responses during two global crises-saying the UPA-era's response in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) was not as sincere as the NDA government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was a more serious situation.

She said the "scandal-ridden 10 years of the UPA regime" saw a series of corruption scandals, including the 1.86 lakh crore coal scam, and contrasted it with the Narendra Modi government's district mineral funds for local area development that she said has mopped up 84,900 crore, benefiting states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.

The minister also took aim at the former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan and alleged that the government at the time sought kickbacks to clear environment projects, referring to them as "Jayanthi tax".

Initiating the debate in the Lower House on the "White Paper on the Indian Economy", the minister said the previous UPA government committed "scandal after scandal" in their 10 years of rule and left the economy in a sorry state when it exited. "God knows, what would be the condition of this country today if they would have continued," she said in her opening remarks in the House.

The White Paper- a 60-page document released in the Parliament on Thursday- is a comparison between the Narendra Modi-led NDA government (2014-2024) and the 10-year rule of the UPA regime (2004-14).