UPA has brought nation to a critical situation in greed of votes: Naresh Aggarwal

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Aggarwal on Wednesday alleged that the Congress-led UPA Government's lust for power is responsible for the bothersome situation of the Indian economy.

"In the greed of votes, the government has taken decisions in a hurry. Like in the case of the Food Security Bill, they are looking at the bill as the Vote Security Bill and feel it would help them ensure not only votes but also promise a return term for the government," said Aggarwal.

"In this tension, they have brought the country to a critical situation and it is the poor and the middle class who are facing the brunt of it," he added.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirti Azad criticized the government over the rupee breaching an all time low against the US dollar, and said that the nation is going through turmoil.

"What else do we expect from this UPA Government, which has drained the treasury completely? The nation is going through turmoil, corruption is at its zenith, and prices are rising," he said.

The rupee plunged to a new record low of 68.75 per dollar in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers due to further fall in equity market amid rise in crude oil prices.

The SandP BSE benchmark Sensex plunges further by 473 points in the late morning trade on persistent selling pressure, triggered by sharp fall in the rupee value against the dollar coupled with sustained capital outflows by foreign funds.

Continuing its rising streak, gold prices climbed to cross Rs 34,500 per 10 gram level for the first time ever in futures trade today as rupee tumbled to hit an all-time low of Rs 68.75 amid a firming trend overseas.

The Finance Minister had earlier on Tuesday suggested a 10-point formula to revive the country's economic situation, and sought co-operation from all quarters despite ideological and political differences.

Chidambaram, who was replying to a discussion on the country's economic situation in the Lok Sabha, said the country needs more reforms, lesser restrictions and an open economy.

The Finance Minister said the fiscal deficit would be contained at 4.8 percent of the GDP even after doling out subsidies for the implementation of the Food Security Bill.

He said the government is doing everything to boost investment.

The Finance Minister also underlined the need to encourage manufacturing in sectors like power, steel, automobiles and textiles.

"We must increase production of electronics and textiles. We are importing things which we should not have imported. India can be strong only if we have a strong manufacturing economy," he said.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta, who earlier initiated the discussion, said the nation is passing through economic crisis, and warned that the economic crisis of 1991 is not very far away if the government fails to take corrective measures to revive the economic growth.