Sonia should ask PM to quit and hold fresh polls: BJP

Accusing the government of having badly failed on the economic front, BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi should ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to put in his papers and hold fresh elections.

Accusing the government of having badly failed on the economic front, BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi should ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to put in his papers and hold fresh elections.

"I would like to appeal to Sonia Gandhi that her team of economic managers have performed very poorly. They have not been able to control inflation over the last four years. They have performed so poorly that the only way out of the present impasse is to go for elections," Sinha told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the issue was not whether the Opposition had the numbers in Lok Sabha or not, but the people losing faith in this government and it should go to pave the way for another one to bring the economy back on the rails.

"People have lost faith, the investors also have lost faith in this government and that's why it should go so that another government has an opportunity to bring the economy back on the rails again," he said.

Sinha said the country is being "taken for a ride" as it was doing "badly" on the economic front and feared people will feel its impact much more in the coming days.

"That's why I am issuing this appeal to Sonia Gandhi. Please tell the Prime Minister to put in his papers. There is no point in continuing this government," he said.

The BJP leader said there is absolutely no indication that things are going to improve next year as promised by finance minister P Chidamabaram during his visit to Tokyo.

Sinha also raised concerns over the rising current account deficit, which had touched 6.7% in the last quarter as per reports, saying it was "unacceptable".