By IANS,
New Delhi : An unusually aggressive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday took on the BJP saying the Congress-led UPA performed better than the BJP-led NDA.
“Our work and performance are the best judges,” the prime minister told the Lok Sabha while replying to the motion of thanks on the president’s address to parliament.
He also expressed the hope that people would vote the ruling UPA back to power in 2014 as they did in 2004 and 2009.
Taking a dig at BJP chief Rajnath Singh, the prime minister said: “Jo garajte hain woh baraste nahin (thundering clouds do not produce rain).”
Rajnath Singh had slammed the government in the house. The BJP’s prime ministerial hopeful, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, had criticised the prime minister and the Gandhi family at a party conclave here last week.
Manmohan Singh said the performance of the UPA against that of the NDA was better on many counts like agriculture, GDP, per capita consumption in rural areas, health, literacy and regional equality.
The prime minister reminded the BJP that its “India Shining” campaign had been a disaster in the 2004 general elections and the opposition party did not gain by fielding senior leader L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial nominee in 2009.
“The people will repeat what they did in 2009,” the prime minister said.
He stated that the government was concerned over farmers’ plight, water security, violence against women, transparency in governance and the welfare of the minorities and was taking steps to address these issues.