Congress led UPA losing its grip in the country

May 22: Too much is being said of Congress led United Progressive Alliance’s report card after completing three years in the office. Opposition along with some members of the coalition have started a through campaign against government’s failure to push through the promises made in common minimum programme.

Riding on the high tide of economic growth, prime minister, Manmohan Singh, today accepted that lower sections of the society benefited least from the economic growth. He said that the major concern for the government is the alarming inflation, which is yet to be dealt properly.

Ringing the alarm bells few days back, Union Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, made same revelations, for which he was attacked by his colleagues.

Prime minister is expected to release the report card of the government today. Sources revealed that some burning issues, yet to be addressed properly, are present in it.

Analysts here in the country are of the opinion that UPA government’s main stress remained on international arena, both politically and economically. Retail liberalization and privatization remained the favourite concerns, efficiently carried out by the government.

Manmohan Singh led government’s ability to keep the strong economic growth steady has been hailed by many but its impact on the common man remained meager. When present government took office three years back, people in the country had much more expectations from the man who initiated present economic policy in early 90s as finance minister of the then Congress government.

After devastating election results in the politically important state, Uttar Pradesh, where Congress remained far behind at fourth position, the party is desperately looking for initiatives just far the sake of common man.

Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi, looked serious about her promise of ‘reforms with a human face’ and her focus on hundreds of millions of poor who helped propel Congress to power on the promise that they would share India's growing prosperity.

In a country, which houses 50 per cent of world’s hungry people (latest World Food programme report), where 46 per cent of children under five underfed, suicides by debt-strapped farmers are daily fare, the boosted economic growth of over 9 per cent won’t fetch votes.

The people who benefited from the booming economic growth don’t bother to vote and if Congress wants to remain in power in future, developmental initiatives far the sake of lower strata is the need of the hour. Better now than to reiterate the promises at election time after two years.