Opposition attack govt on economy

Opposition on Wednesday pounded the government over the state of economy accusing it of forcing the country into a deep crisis where people have enough money to even buy day-to-day articles before they walked out of Rajya Sabha during a discussion.

Parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and CPI among others walked out during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reply to the short duration discussion on economy accusing her of not responding to specific demands of non-payment of GST to states, disinvesting PSUs and price rise among other issues.

Initiating the discussion, senior Congress MP Anand Sharma said the government cannot claim that the current slowdown in the economy is a "cyclical phenomenon".

Claiming that the industry has gone down and people "do not even have money to buy day-to-day articles", he said the situation in the rural regions is "even worse" as the gap between the rich and poor is widening in the past few years.

"It cannot be said as a cyclical slowdown. We are staring at the deep economic crisis which is India specific," Sharma said.

Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O' Brien (TMC) said targeted the government saying, “economy is in trouble, youth want jobs. Devote more time to economics, not petty politics. Please focus on the job at hand."

Referring to the Maharashtra developments where Shiv Sena has come out of its alliance with BJP, he said, "I don't need to say much because all of us have followed very carefully what happened to a 29-year old relation." On TDP bringing a no-confidence motion in last Lok Sabha, he said, "the last time around, the No-confidence Motion a few months ago also came from their biggest ally."

Congress' Digvijay Singh held Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the sluggishness in the economy, alleging that he takes decisions first but thinks about them later.

Elamaram Kareem (CPM) said the industry and agriculture sector have suffered and there is a need for a "large dose of public investment" to boost economic growth. The construction sector is in trouble while unemployment is at the highest in past five decades, he said while asking the government to keep people in mind while formulating policies.

DMK's T K S Elangovan said the government was selling profit-making PSUs while its priority should be development.