Naidu takes potshots at Cong, UPA

 With the Congress undecided on ally Mamata Banerjee’s orders to sack Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi for hiking railway fares, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday targeted its coalition UPA government, saying “it suffered from inbuilt instability”.

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President for her address to Parliament, Naidu took a swipe at the government saying “the inbuilt instability in the government was because there is no ideological cohesion; all are here because of political compulsions.”

He said that there is a communication gap and lack of cohesion in the government. “I do not know how long will this government continue. If the Congress cannot talk to its allies and govern properly, it should “get out”.

Noting that some UPA allies want to take on the role of Opposition, Naidu said this is because there is no leader who commands the respect of all.

“The brake is not in the hands of the driver...In the driving seat, there is somebody else. The gear is with some other. This government has become Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi” he said.

The talk of mid-term polls emanated not from the opposition, but from UPA’s own allies. Allies continually troop to the well of the House (in protest) - one day it is RJD, another day it is DMK and yet another day TMC. There is neither clarity nor unity in this government, he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sat through Naidu’s diatribe against the government using puns that sent the Opposition members into peals of laughter.

Puns galore

“This government takes one step forward, three steps backward and situation is awkward...you are not ready, you are not steady...left hand proposes, right hand opposes and the mind disposes...acting in haste and repenting at leisure has become a practice," Naidu said.

He charged that the Congress is misusing the CBI to stay in power and destabilise the opposition parties. Though the CBI had named several prominent people in Adarsh housing scam, why none was arrested, he questioned.