Opposition attacks government on economic situation

The CPI-M and the BJP Saturday hit out at the UPA government for the slide in the value of the rupee and market meltdown, and demanded immediate changes in the economic policy.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) charged the government with creating a situation akin to the time of the major financial crisis in 1991.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of failing to tackle the situation.

"We demand immediate alteration of policies being pursued by the government," he said and blamed the United Progressive Alliance's economic policies for the downslide of the rupee, which plummeted to around Rs.62 to a dollar Friday, and climbdown of all economic indicators, including the sensex.

Yechury said if the rupee continues its fall, it would soon touch Rs.80.

The economic policies of the government "have brought the economy to the same place where we started in 1991. The country was faced with a major financial crisis at that time too", Yechury said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Shahnawaz Hussain said despite having an economist as prime minister, the economic situation in the country was worse than 1991.