Investment climate down under Cong rule: Rajnath

BJP president says not only foreign investors, even domestic investors shying away from investing in country

Virendra Singh Rawat Lucknow
Last Updated : Apr 14 2014 | 5:42 PM IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh today flayed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for the worsening investment climate in India.

He said not only foreign investors, but even domestic investors are shying away from investing in India.

"During 2013, domestic investors invested 30 billion dollars abroad, while their investment in India was only 7 billion dollars," he claimed addressing a conference call here.

He said during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime in 1998-2004, the domestic economy grew by about 8.4% and the inflation was below 5%.

"Under the UPA government, the economic growth rate has slipped to about 4.8%, while inflation is well above 10%," Singh added.

Replying to a question, he said Indian economy had derailed even though the prime minister, finance minister and the deputy chairman of planning commission were all well known economists.

On the oft-repeated Gujarat model of development, Rajnath said it was not BJP alone, but Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and a US parliamentary research committee, which had lauded the development works in that state.

Apparently buoyed by increased in voting percentage in the ongoing Lok Sabha polling in phases, he exuded confidence that BJP was well poised to cross 300 seats on its own.

"I have been touring across states and there is a clear wave for change in the country. BJP-NDA is the only viable option for bringing the change," he noted.

He maintained people had compared both BJP-led NDA and Congress-led UPA regimes and found BJP-NDA much better in governance and development parameters.

Rajnath, who is seeking election to Lok Sabha from Lucknow, has been campaigning in Lucknow for the last two days. He promised to develop Lucknow as IT and Biotech hub.

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First Published: Apr 14 2014 | 5:28 PM IST

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