CWC backs Manmohanomics

The Congress Working Committee fully endorsed UPA-II’s reform measures with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying that the decisions were very necessary and finance minister P Chidambaram saying a stagnant economy would endanger key welfare programmes.
The party’s backing comes in the wake of the decision to raise the diesel price and permit foreign direct investment in multibrand retail, leading to the Congress’s largest ally in Lok Sabha, the Trinamool Congress, withdrawing support to the ruling coalition.
The CWC’s support to the government’s initiatives came even as some members said there was a need to explain the decisions in order to blunt criticism that the government was insensitive to the aam aadmi’s concerns. One member said that the party should have been taken into confidence.
But with Sonia setting the tone, there were no serious objections raised to the government’s initiatives to cut fiscal deficit and spur investment so that India’s slide into a low growth trajectory is reversed.
Chidambaram, who explained the fiscal situation in some detail, said there was no trade-off between growth and politically crucial flagship schemes. If the economy did not do well, the government would suffer or lose on both counts.
Elaborating on the political situation after the exit of Trinamool Congress from UPA-II, Sonia said the government was stable.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the BJP blockage of Parliament over Coalgate, saying the government’s record was clean and it had nothing to hide. He said he had not been allowed to speak in Parliament otherwise he could have answered his critics.
Singh also reiterated that measures to cater to the needs of the disadvantaged will continue apace as some members pointed out that the decision of Congress governments to increase the cap on cheap cooking gas cylinders to nine from six had not been amplified.
Singh supported the finance minister’s argument that without a strong economy, welfare schemes would suffer. Chidambaram said that the government was working to insulate India to the extent possible against the turbulence in the world economy.
Chidambaram pointed to the limited options before the government and while the members did not disagree, they pointed to the need to counter the opposition campaign.