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Centre in a state of denial on economic crisis: Advani

L.K. Advani

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, here on Friday lamented the record and legacy of the United Progressive Alliance government as compared to the “healthy seeds” planted by the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government and said the need of the hour in this time of economic crisis was a strong government.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times leadership summit, Mr. Advani said the NDA had “started with a 5 per cent growth” and left with an 8.5 per cent growth, while the UPA had started with an 8.5 per cent growth and was likely to end its innings with a 5 per cent growth.

He said the government had not done enough at a time when the top business leaders said the country was facing an acute crisis of confidence in the economy. He charged the government with being in a state of denial that the global meltdown would adversely affect the Indian economy.

He said some were of the view that the world was facing the beginning of a global “recessionary tsunami.” The present situation in India was “far more worrisome” than presented by the print and electronic media.

He said “lakhs of people have already lost their jobs” and “many more face the spectre of job loss.” Yet, the government had not accepted the reality of the crisis.

Ironically, the global crisis had heightened the comparison between “excesses of the western world” and the “Asian frugality.”

It was the surplus of Asian savings that had sustained the debt-ridden lifestyle of the average American household. The ongoing credit crisis was the result of this global imbalance, which must be redressed.

Partly borrowing a phrase used to describe China’s growth story, Mr. Advani said the current economic crisis offered India an opportunity to make a “big leap forward.”

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