Congress MP criticises President for ignoring UPA feats

A Congress Rajya Sabha member from Goa Friday criticized President Pranab Mukherjee for ignoring the achievements of the Congress-led UPA governments in his address to parliament earlier this week.

Goa's lone representative in the upper house, Shantaram Naik told a press conference here that Mukherjee should have used his discretionary powers to include achievements of the Congress-led UPA governments in his address to the joint sitting of both houses of parliament.

"The president should have used his discretionary powers to include UPA's achievements instead of just reading what was given to him by the government," Naik said.

Asked if he felt let down because of Mukherjee's skipping United Progressive Alliance (UPA)'s achievements from his address, Naik said: "Something like that."

The MP also said that by meeting secretaries to union ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to undermine the authority of his ministerial colleagues.

"The secretaries will now be more loyal to the PM. They will not listen to the ministers, who they report to," Naik said.