On the eve of the 9th anniversary of the UPA, Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday lamented that the Congress failed to reciprocate its support and friendship, but insisted that the UPA was “not a liability”.
“We had not put any conditions before the government or the party leading the UPA. One lesson must be learnt in these nine years that we have constantly supported the Congress and the UPA, but unfortunately, the Congress has not supported us,” the NCP general secretary and sitting MP, D.P. Tripathi told PTI.
Replying to a question, he dismissed suggestions that the UPA was a liability. “The UPA is not a liability, but an asset. If it was not, how could we have been part of it?” Mr Tripathi said. Asked whether the UPA coalition needed a course correction in the wake of a series of scams and scandals, he said that it must be emphasised that whenever there was corruption, the alliance has acted against that, may it be the Commonwealth Games scam or the 2G scam. He said what the UPA needed was quicker implementation of laws so that the guilty are brought to book faster.
Another party leader and Union minister Praful Patel told a TV channel, “Action against people or ministers have been taken. The fact that couple of things have come one after the another which has created a lot of negativity.”
“But the fact also remains that there have been lot of good decisions taken by the government over the years even if you look at the economy its not faltered, the way the global economy is faltered.”