UPA's decision making is puzzling even Cabinet ministers: BJP

New Delhi, Apr 12: Terming Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's letter to the prime minister protesting curbs on milk, cotton and sugar exports as proof of the UPA's "anti- poor" policies, the BJP today said the decision making process of the government has puzzled even Cabinet ministers.

"The decision making of this government is puzzling even the Cabinet ministers. We had other (UPA) alliance partners also speaking in similar voices," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here. Not only is the government showing signs of policy paralysis, "it is also taking decisions which don't seem to be in the comprehension of its own ministers", she said. She claimed that lack of timely decisions and lack of decisions in consultation with its own ministers was hurting governance. "Whatever policies it is following are anti-poor," she said.

In a letter to Manmohan Singh, Pawar had strongly criticised Food Ministry and Textile Ministry for the policies which are "ambivalent" and go against farmers. Describing restriction on cotton exports as "retrograde", the NCP chief had said, "Indian cotton farmers should not be asked to bear the burden of subsidising the textile mills."

Referring to a proposal in the Union Budget which seeks to deduct one per cent TDS on transactions on immovable properties, Sitharaman said it will affect the federal structure as, besides the land revenue department of a state, the Income Tax department will also have a role in it. "Besides, it will delay the collection of stamp duty by the states as parties involved in a transaction will have to first satisfy the queries of IT department and then the land revenue officials before finalising the deal," she said, adding that states should be taken into confidence before moving ahead.

PTI