New Delhi, Mar 6 (IBNS): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday attacked India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he compared his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's performance with that of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
He said country's average growth rate was more than the BJP-led NDA rule.
"The best I can do is to compare nine years of UPA with six years of NDA, people can compare and decide what has been done," Singh said while delivering the vote of thanks on President Pranab Mukherjee's speech in the Lok Sabha.
"Our average growth rate in these nine years has been 7.9%. During the NDA tenure growth was no more than 6%," the PM said.
"Agricultural growth in the UPA period was 3.5 percent compared with only 2.9 percent per year in the NDA period (1998-99 to 2003-04)," Singh said.
"What has been achieved by this government cannot be belittled," the PM said while taking a dig at the BJP.
In a series of attacks, Singh blasted the BJP and said: "The party (BJP) uses abusive language against the UPA. But we cannot reply in the same language."
Singh also targeted the BJP's 'India Shining' campaign and said it was a 'disaster'.
Attacking BJP patriarch LK Advani, he said the party had fielded its 'Iron Man' in 2004 general elections but lost it.
BJP president Rajnath Singh countered Singh and said he never saw the Prime Minister in such an aggressive avatar in the past nine years.
"I have never seen PM being so aggressive in nine years.. I believe that before a flame goes out it burns brightest. It indicates that his government will come to an end soon," Singh said.
