'Cong taking away powers of states, BJP to raise issue in Par'

Accusing Congress of attempting to take away powers of state governments through various bills including the NCTC, opposition BJP today said that it will raise the issues of attack on federalism and on "gloomy" state of the economy in the Budget Session of Parliament.

The Budget session starting tomorrow will be dominated by the issue of federalism and "failure" of the Congress-led UPA government on economic front, BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

"If the Congress has not learnt any lessons from the recently held five state elections, it will learn those lessons in the coming session of Parliament," Javadekar said.

"Federalism is under attack...be it NCTC, Lokayukta under Lok Pal, RPF amendment bill, Communal Violence bill and every bill of HRD...the Congress is taking all powers of state and so all parties are opposing it. If given freedom, even Congress chief ministers will oppose them," he said.

"Congress mindset through various bills is very clear that they want to take away powers of the state. Congress does not believe in federal principle of the Constitution," he stated.

Referring on the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) bill, he said the BJP too wants an effective bill against terrorism but the content of NCTC is against the federal spirit of Constitution.

Speaking on the economy, Javadekar said country's economic growth has slowed down with growth rate which was expected to be 8 per cent coming down to 6.1 per cent in the last quarter.

"The trade deficit is widening, fiscal deficit is also rising, rupee is getting depreciated, employment is shrinking, index of industrial production has gone down. The buoyancy of the economy NDA handed over to UPA has been squandered away," the BJP leader said.

When asked if a mid-term election was in the offing, the BJP leader said, "...It was up to the Congress to decide on whether it is taking along all its (allies) and the UPA or not. Whether mid-term polls will happen or not, it depends on if the UPA will split or not. And whether the UPA will break up or not, it depends on skills of the Congress and the UPA."

Reacting to another query, Javadekar said, "Indian polity has become bipolar. On one side it is the UPA-led by Congress and on another it is the NDA-led by BJP. The talk of third and fourth front is no show."

Javadekar expressed confidence that his party will win the by-election to Mahabubnagar Assembly seat in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh to be held on March 18.