Click to play videoNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday rejected charges leveled by BJP-ruled states that the 11th Five Year Plan focused on minorities.
The battlelines were clearly drawn at the meeting of the National Development Council where Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Centre had resorted to communal budgeting.
And though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not make it official, the undertone that preparations for the General Elections are clearly on was evident.
"The XI Plan now firmly weaves all these initiatives together and focuses on marginalised sections and marginalised regions without sacrificing enterprise and growth,” the Prime Minister said.
But equitable growth was what the NDA-ruled states were asking as they turned the NDC meet into an electoral battlefield. The reason BJP upping the ante was because for the first time the Government has kept aside 15 per cent of budgetary allocation for the minorities. The divisions were clear cut...
Whether the NDA endorses the Plan, the Government has all reasons to showcase its growth parameters:
- That aim at 10 per cent growth rate from the present nine per cent.
- An outlay for education at nearly 20 per cent is up from the present eight per cent.
- Triple allocations for agriculture, health and infrastructure.
By equating the 15-point programme with minority appeasement, the NDA is making its stand clear. It’s smelling victory in Gujarat and minority appeasement is an electoral plank with which it hopes to contest an early election.
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