Fractured mandate to blame: PM
PM says competitive politics and fractured mandates make it difficult to achieve growth fully, reports Saroj Nagi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that competitive politics and fractured mandates make it difficult for the government to pursue, sustain and further accelerate growth.
In the context on the ongoing debate on the India-US nuclear agreement, such a statement kept alive speculation about his anguish over the possibility of the deal going down.
"I don't think there is any lack of thinking on what needs to be done to sustain and further accelerate growth. There is also fairly wide recognition of the importance of this agenda. However, given the nature of competitive politics and the very fractured mandates given to governments, it has become difficult sometimes for us to do what is manifestly obvious," Singh said while addressing the McKinsey board in India.
Later, AICC media department chairperson Veerappa Moily said: "It (Singh's remark) is a general and philosophical statement." Other Congress leaders privately said the remarks encapsulate the dream of a clear majority.
A PTI report quoted US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as saying in New York that India has to move fast on the deal because the Bush administration would like to send the final legislation to the Congress by the year-end.
