INDIA bloc calls White Paper document a ‘political manifesto’

Opposition leaders criticize the Modi government's White Paper on the economy, accusing it of being a political manifesto.

Opposition leaders from the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha on February 9 said the White Paper brought out by the Narendra Modi government on the state of the economy under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was a “political manifesto” that was aimed at “tarnishing” the Manmohan Singh government.

Most of the members questioned the government why it had not mentioned the November 2016 demonetisation in the White Paper, unemployment, inflation and faulty implementation of GST. Several of them recounted the BJP’s pre-poll promises like creating two crore jobs every year, putting ₹15 lakh into the accounts of every citizen after brining back black money, bringing down the prices of fuel and cooking gas and making the rupee stronger against the dollar.

Two Opposition members — RSP’s N.K. Premachandran and Trinamool Congress’s Saugato Roy — had moved a substitute resolution to highlight the failures of the Modi government and appealed to the House to disapprove the government’s White Paper even though the Opposition doesn’t have the numbers in the Lok Sabha.

Parliament Budget Session - February 9 updates

Responding to the allegations of endless scams under the UPA, Congress and DMK members asked the Modi government to spell out the concrete steps it took to put the guilty behind bars in the past 10 years.

“It is a matter of 10 years. Have you taken any action against any political leader?” asked Congress leader Manish Tewari who led the charge from the Opposition benches.

“If you wanted to bring a White Paper, you should have brought it in 2014. The intention behind this White Paper is only political. This is a political manifesto, not a White Paper,” he said.