Jaitley calls Cong a liability

Cites party's jockeying for LoP and oppn to key bills as reason

 Attacking the Congress for jostling for the Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha and creating hurdles for key bills, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the party was a “liability on the economy” when it was in power at the Centre through a coalition, and “continues to be a liability even in the Opposition”.

Jaitley’s statements came as a political resolution was moved at the BJP’s national council, held to endorse Amit Shah’s appointment as party president. Jaitley, along with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, came in for special praise at the meet for effectively responding to the global and economic crises, respectively.

Appreciating the initiatives of the 75-day-old Narendra Modi government, Jaitley criticised the Congress for not being able to “digest its worst defeat”.

­“They were a liability on the economy of this country, when they were in power. They continue to be a liability even in the Opposition,” he said.

He was of the view that the Congress scrambling for the LoP post, its opposition towards Bills it had presented during its tenure and disruption of Parliamentary proceedings showed the party's “inability to accept the people’s verdict”.

L K Advani, in his address to the gathering, stressed that people expect a lot from the Modi government, and that everyone should pledge to fulfil the aspirations.

The political resolution extolled the budget Jaitley had presented in a short span of time, which spelled out the road map for overall development of the country and also gave relief and support to all sections of society.

“Arun Jaitley deserved kudos for laying the strong edifice for the realisation of the prime minister's vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ through his budget”, said the resolution Advani moved for adoption by the council.

While the resolution acknowledged that the global perception about the country had changed since Modi took over as prime minister, and hailed the “neighbours first” policy, it also said Swaraj had solved the Indian hostage crisis in Iraq “efficiently”.

“Due to her relentless efforts, the government was successful in freeing almost all Indians held hostage in Iraq,” it said.

Swaraj could not attend the meet due to her preoccupation with important official work.