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The 10-year UPA rule came under sharp attack in the BJP's National Council meeting in on Saturday, which unveiled the new government's future plans and policy prescription in domestic and foreign affairs arena in a political resolution, which hailed the "strong and able" leadership of Narendra Modi.
Leading the charge, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the "tax terrorism" and "policy paralysis" were the buzz words during the Congress regime and the Narendra Modi government's challenge is to change that atmosphere.
"They were a liability on the economy of this country, when they were in power. They want to continue to be a liability even when they are in Opposition," Jaitley said alleging that the opponents of the government are making all efforts to discredit it.
Lauding the 75-days' functioning of the BJP government, Jaitley, who presented the political resolution of the crucial meet, said that while the BJP leadership humbly accepted the mandate "Congress is not able to digest its worst defeat".
"Their scramble for the post of Leader of Opposition, their opposition to the bills which they had presented during their tenure and disruption of Parliament shows their inability to accept the people's verdict, "the resolution, which was passed without discussion due to "paucity of time," said.
Attacking it on corruption issue, the senior BJP leader accused Congress of carrying out "institutional subversion".
He said that while the UPA government persistently refused to set up an SIT to unearth the black money, this was the first step Modi government took immediately after taking over.
Jaitley also chose the occasion to hit back at the Congress its allegation that the NDA government lacked "depth and seriousness" on foreign affairs issues and hailed the prime minister's visit to the BRICS summit, Bhutan and Nepal as the one which marked strong international presence of India on the world map.
Crediting Modi's "very important role" in the historic mandate to the BJP, the party resolution said that it reflected people's pledge to "get rid of the 10-year-old rule of the non-performing and corruption riddled Congress-led UPA government.
He said that the election results also spelt doom for "dynastic democracy" and parties, which were dependent on a particular family got a rude shock when the results came.
Alleging that the country was under a grip of helplessness and disappointment under the Congress government, he said that an atmosphere of faith in politics was generated with Modi's arrival.
"The people have given a decisive mandate against the divisive politics of casteism, corruption, incapability and policy paralysis of the government," the resolution said.
Acknowledging the "huge contribution" of party President Amit Shah for its spectacular show in Uttar Pradesh, which was under his direct charge, Jaitley accused the Congress of doing "vendetta politics."
He said in a lighter vein, "Our opponents understood Amit Shah long back. That is why they began targeting him years back. We realised his potential much later."
Seconding the resolution, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan revived the "Jayanti Tax" barb to attack the UPA over "delay" in clearance of projects in the name of environmental safeguards.
Attacking the UPA over its ministers functioning with different agenda, he compared it to a chariot whose horses were running in multiple directions pulling against each other and claimed that it was a welcome change since the government under Modi came, as ministers are now working with a clear focus and preparedness.
The resolution assured the people that the government will keep up its good performance and will redeem the pledges given to the people in a definite time frame.
"We have many challenges on the national and international arena. The government has started on a positive note. It is focusing on education, health, agriculture, water, irrigation, infrastructure, urbanization and overall job creation.
"Skilling India is a major scheme of the government. The government has just completed 70 days. People have trust in the government and are in support of it," the resolution said.
The National Council of the Party wants to reassure the people of this country that the government will keep up its good performance and its decisions would benefit 125 crore people of the country.
"It will redeem the pledges given to the people in a definite timeframe," the resolution said.
The party appealed to people to become partners in progress.
On price rise, the resolution said that the Congress-led UPA government had promised to contain price rise within 100 days but after coming to power they not only raised their hands but throughout its regime failed to take adequate and concrete steps to contain price rise.
"Even as prices of essential commodities went up, the Congress virtually remained a mute spectator. The failure of the Congress to rein in inflation resulted in the people showing them doors," it said.
On the other hand, soon after coming to power, the BJP government has shown its earnestness to check inflation by taking strong measures to stabilize prices of essential commodities, the resolution said.
"The National Council extends its whole hearted appreciation to the government for having able to contain price rise during such a short period and expects that it would maintain a hawk's eye on the prices of essential commodities to make necessary intervention," it said.
The resolution claimed that a veritable shift has come in the work culture in the ministries after the NDA government took charge.
"A new sense of accountability has been instilled in the bureaucracy. Transparency in various departments has been ensured. Instilling of this new work culture has inspired the bureaucracy.
"Also the steps taken by the government for the speedy disposal of files and steps to enhance cleanliness in government establishments are praiseworthy. This National Council hopes that it will bring encouraging results in government functioning in the future," it said.
On the foreign affairs issue, it said that in line with the "Neighbours First" policy, Modi made his first foreign visit to Bhutan while in the BRICS Conference, India registered its strong position.
"The most important factor of this meeting was setting up of a Development Bank whose name was suggested by Modi as New Development Bank. The headquarters of this Bank will be in Shanghai and its first Chairman will be from India.
"China which wanted a bigger share in this Bank had to settle with equal share along with other member countries because of the initiative taken by India," the resolution said welcoming Modi for his "diplomatic successes".
The resolution also appreciated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for solving the Iraq crisis.
"Due to her relentless efforts, the government was successful in freeing almost all the Indians held hostage in Iraq," it said.
The resolution also hailed the government for displaying "vigour and pro-farmer stand" at the WTO negotiations.
On the political front, the resolution said that the successes achieved in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, MP, Jharkhand, UP, Rajasthan, Rural Gujarat, Rural Karnataka and Rural Maharashtra by BJP shows that this is the "mandate given by the poor".
"One more important aspect is that BJP got huge support on seats reserved for SC/STs in these elections as a result of which maximum number of SC/ST MPs got elected on BJP ticket.
Three SC candidates of BJP, won on general seats. Moreover, BJP is honoured to have maximum representation of women MPs in parliament today," the resolution flagged.
Noting that there is a lesson for the organisation in these elections, the resolution insisted that the wave of popular leader and sentiment gets converted into votes where the organisation is strong and the local leadership is established.
"That is why it is essential to strengthen the organisation in all the states of the country and that is our responsibility," the resolution said at a time when assembly elections are due in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir this year.
The resolution said that by giving a decisive mandate, people have brought a historic change in the elections of the world's largest democracy.
"People have given a positive mandate for development and good governance. This National Council of the Bharatiya Janata Party expresses its gratitude towards the people.
"It is the first occasion in the history of independent India that a non-Congress political party has succeeded in getting full majority on its own."
"Another feature of this election is that a leader born after independence is for the first time leading the country. It can be aptly described as the golden chapter in the political journey of Bharatiya Janata Party since the time of Jan Sangh," the resolution said.
It said that Modi strategised this election in such a way that all sections of the society voted for the BJP.
"The first time voters in the age group of 18-28 years made clear that their first choice is Narendra Modi. People voted differently this time making departure from voting on caste lines."
"Modiji played a very important role in this historic mandate. This election was about able leadership and therefore it revolved around the leadership of Modi and the people also chose a strong leadership. The National Council of the party congratulates the leadership of Modi," it added.
The resolution noted that BJP has increased the numbers of its voters by whopping 10 crore as compared to that of 2009 general elections.
"The big factor of BJP's victory was the charismatic and decisive leadership of Modi ji backed by the strong support of the organisation and hard work of local leadership and Karyakartas," it said.
A large of portion of the resolution was devoted to promises made by the government in the budget, which said that while the government on one hand had to fulfill the great expectations of the people of the country, there was a challenge to bring the economy back on track also which had got "completely derailed due to policy paralysis during the Congress-led UPA government".
"The government through its maiden budget, has converted these challenges into opportunity," the resolution said hailing Jaitley for laying the strong edifice for the realisation of the vision of 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' of the prime minister.
The resolution also talked about the save Ganga plan of the government.
Image: BJP National Council Meet in New Delhi