Signalling that 'coalition compulsions' had made things difficult for his government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday appealed to key UPA allies and other political parties to rise above narrow partisan ends and stand united as a nation to achieve national goals.
Replying to the Lok Sabha debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Dr Singh said: “The difficult decisions we have to take are made more difficult by the fact that we are a coalition government and have to evolve policies keeping in mind the need to maintain a consensus.”
The PM said the challenges came to the fore after the Railway Budget. Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi was forced to resign as his party, Trinamul, was not happy with the Railway Budget, he said. Dr Singh regretted Mr Trivedi’s departure, saying that his budget had “promised to carry out the Vision 2020 was outlined by his predecessor.”
Dr Singh, noting the country was charting its course through waters that were choppy for the entire world, said India still can revert to high growth (nine per cent) if “we can agree on a number of difficult decisions”.