New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said his great regret as prime minister was that many bills had not been passed due to the “obstructionist” and “impatient” attitude of the opposition.
“The obstructionist role of the opposition increased in recent years. My great regret is that many important bills have not been passed (due to the opposition’s attitude),” Singh told journalists on board his special aircraft while returning from a five-day official visit to Japan and Thailand.
Hitting back at his remark, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said his government had failed to deliver on promises.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the prime minister should explain his record in office.
“Leave aside the BJP being disappointed. Tell us what is your record? Why has the prime minister failed to function despite the mandate given to him,” Sitharaman said.
The prime minister said the opposition could not digest that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had come back to power for a second consecutive term in May 2009.
“I can’t tell you how I feel about the way UPA-2 has moved. There has been a great sense of continuity between UPA-1 and UPA-2. But it is unfortunate that the opposition has become more impatient than ever before,” he said.
“They never expected that we would win the election for UPA-1. But they were doubly disappointed when we won the election for UPA-2. Therefore, the obstructionist role of the opposition has increased enormously in recent years,” he said.
“It is my great regret that some very essential business of the house have not been transacted because of these animosities between the opposition and the government,” he added.
The opposition parties, especially the BJP, have been gunning for the Singh-led UPA-2 government for the scams that have taken place in its tenure since 2009.
The opposition has not let the two houses of parliament function during the recent sessions, putting up demands for resignations of ministers, including the prime minister.
Against this, Sitharaman said the UPA government had made several promises for its first 100 days in office, including controlling prices, work on food security bill, tackling corruption and action to bring back black money from abroad.
“You will see how people are going to respond to it. The 100 days list remains where it was. Blaming the opposition shows you have no answers to give to the country,” she said.
–Indo-Asian News service
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