External affairs minister S.M. Krishna on Sunday said the country is progressing with the right perspective under the guidance of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is spearheading developmental schemes. Speaking at the 65th birthday celebrations of Mrs Gandhi, organised by the Hulimangala block Congress here, Mr Krishna observed that every country has its plus and minus points and India is no different. “Yes, we know everyone compares us with China’s progress but we are not behind in terms of development. We are progressing slowly because we are a democratic country, where every issue is debated in length. But, despite resistance from various corners, Mrs Gandhi is able to guide us and the UPA in the right direction,” he remarked. Training his guns on the BJP in Karnataka, KPCC president Dr G. Parmeshwar alleged that the ruling party has damaged the state’s reputation by indulging in corruption. “More than half-a-dozen ministers are facing corruption charges while several legislators are facing criminal cases,” he said.
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UPA failing on all fronts, claims Badal
Age Correspondent
Chandigarh, Dec. 18
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday slammed the UPA government for miserably failing on all fronts. Addressing a rally in Moga, Mr Badal said that the Union government has failed in controlling inflation, checking corruption and safeguarding the security and integrity of the country from the external and internal aggression.
He said most of the senior Cabinet ministers and top bureaucrats of the present UPA government were behind bars and the needle of suspicion was also being pointed towards even the most powerful ministers in the council of ministers having the important portfolios of home and external affairs.
Chief minister reiterated that the SAD-BJP alliance will contest the forthcoming Assembly polls on the sole plank of development, peace and communal harmony to rule in Punjab for the next 25 years because the politics of vendetta, as started by the previous Congress regime, has been totally rejected by the people and was now redundant because they believed in politics of overall development.