BJP pulls up Congress as UPA II completes three years in office

New Delhi, May 21 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday took the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to task on completion of its three years in power at the Centre, saying the rule of the Congress-led Government was marked by failures, corruption and economic crisis.

"The UPA Government has failed miserably on all fronts. It is leaderless, radar-less and it is directionless and visionless government. The three years of UPA Government has given three things to the country, inflation, corruption and unemployment," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid, however, said that the UPA Government worked for the welfare of the people, and expressed confidence that the people of the country would once again back them in the next general elections.

"The government works in order to win the people's support for the next elections and we are also working in the same manner. The support is based on the work done by the government and if the government does not work, then the people will not support," he said.

To a poser on the scams that had emerged during the UPA rule, Khurshid said that the government had tried to address the issue with full earnestness.

"It is sad that a lot of questions have been raised, which were not appropriate. We felt the need to answer the questions earnestly and we did the same. If more such questions are raised against us, we are ready to answer them as well," he said.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on her part lauded the government for passing several important legislations, which she felt saved India from the economic tumult, which the European countries are facing.

"The UPA Government has passed several very important legislations. The government has taken some strong steps, because of which the economic situation of the country is better as compared to rest of the world," said Soni.

"However, we have the habit of taking things for granted. Therefore, I feel that our government has worked a lot in the last three years," she added.

Speaking on charges of the government being embroiled in the series of scams, Soni said any government in a country with such high population is likely to face such challenges.

"In the functioning of every government, in a country with a population of 1.25 billion approximately, there will be one problem or the other. The challenge that the leadership faces, is that how it successfully comes out of every problem," she said.

Union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah also echoed similar sentiments, and dismissing the seriousness of the scams said that they would not hinder the growth of the country.

"Scams and scandals are very common, to err is human. The scandals are not very unusual, and country is not going to be ruined by such scams. India is treading on the path of development, it is progressing. May be the progress is slow, but we are on the move," Abdullah said.

The UPA Government, which is mired in endless scams, completed three years in office in its second term on Monday.

The UPA Government's third term comes amidst uncertainty over passage of key economic legislations and decisions like Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. (ANI)