Union finance minister and chief UPA crisis manager Pranab Mukherjee, when asked if the government would face a crisis if the DMK were to withdraw support, said cryptically on Thursday that the “rate of mortality” was “very high in Parliament”. He added: “In such cases, electorates get another chance to express their wishes.”
At an interaction with the media here, the veteran leader indicated that despite the flurry of general elections in the late 1990s, the political parties had, however, realised that people by and large do not like frequent elections. “After 1999, there has been a silent equation among political outfits, which has worked.” He went on to add, without further elaborating, that one needed to “look judiciously into everything”.
The finance minister noted that the Swiss authorities had indicated that information on black money secreted in its banks could possibly be available by the end of August. At the same time, he referred to legal complications and noted that “to get authentic information, we must get cooperation from other countries”. Negotiations on black money had been completed with 57 countries, and were in progress with 29 others.
With the government continuing to draw flak from the Opposition and Parliament’s Monsoon Session (due to begin August 1) drawing near, the government has begun an exercise to give the other side of the picture. The finance minister made it clear efforts were on to address contentious issues and it is “not that things are at a standstill”.
Dispelling the so-called mood of “despondency and cynicism”, the finance minister said the “overall performance of the Indian economy is not bad”. India, he said, was “steadily emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world”. He acknowledged that inflation was still a matter “of concern”, saying the government was taking various measures to counter it.
On the fiscal deficit, Mr Mukherjee laughed and said: “Hope goddess luck will smile on me and will be able to tackle it.”
The minister said that in order to put reforms on fast track, the ruling side needed the Opposition’s support. He insisted that the government had “not given up” on reforms, referring to a series of major enactments, including the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act and the Food Security Bill. But he also made a reference to “coalition dharma”, saying that the “partners within the government will also have to agree with the proposals (and) the reforms agenda”.