Opposition thumbs down to president's address

Opposition parties, including the Congress, Monday said the president's address was similar to what the BJP promised in its manifesto and expressed skepticism about its implementation.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said: "This agenda is part of their manifesto. They have presented that agenda through the president. We have to see how they will implement it."

The Communist Party of India-Marxist also expressed similar views. "Compilation of election slogans and rehash of BJP manifesto were repeated in the speech. But how it will be implemented was not there. It has only expressed intention, not the solution," Sitaram Yechury, politburo member of the party, said.

Pranab Mukherjee's address Monday to both houses of parliament, in which he enunciated reforms promised by the NDA government, was described by the Congress as "high on rhetoric" with no clear roadmap spelled out.

Mukherjee was a minister in the UPA government before he became president.

Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily said the speech was "high on rhetoric". He said while the National Democratic Alliance government made tall promises of poverty elimination and controlling inflation, there was no clear road map as to how it would achieve the goals.

"The president's speech is high on rhetoric but how will they (NDA government) achieve what they promise? These grand words are good in a party manifesto, but not in the president's speech," Moily told reporters here.

Moily contended that while the government made a resolve to contain communal violence, there was no mention of the communal tension in Pune following the murder of a 28-year-old techie allegedly by members of a Hindu right-wing group.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Saifuddin Soz also expressed similar apprehensions.

"I am disappointed the cabinet has not exerted itself to prepare the president's address. They are talking about progress, but there is no model or specific outline how to achieve economic growth," Soz said. He added that there was no programme for the development of Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress leader Kamal Nath described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic agenda as "enunciation of the dreams and hopes" in the market place.

"It is the enunciation of the dreams and hopes which you have seen in the market place in the past three months," Kamal Nath said, alluding to Modi's economic programmes that include liberalising foreign direct investment in defence sector.

Kamal Nath said whether the government succeeds in its policies will be known in a couple of months.