Lending his strong support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has been facing criticism from various corners, leading industrialist Ratan Tata on Thursday disagreed with the criticism of Singh from various corners and maintained it's "grossly misdirected" to single out and blame the Prime Minister. However, while recalling that Manmohan Singh was "the architect of the '91 reforms which brought international recongnition to our country and has led our country with great personal dignity and integrity", the Tata group chairman did not mince words by pointing out slowdown in growth, declining investment climate, rising inflation and lagging government action. Tata politely passed on his message to the PM to be bold and courageous and do "the right thing" for the sake of the country. Posting his message under the title 'Lets Do The Right Thing" on the social networking site 'Twitter' at 3:05 AM on Thursday, Tata expressed his grief on the attacks on Prime Minister but suggested that it is the time that PM 'must' break convention, restore credibility and put the country on growth path by, "Implementing promised reforms, removing road-blocks to growth and controlling crony capitalism." “It's sad and unfortunate that over the past few months the Opposition, the media, some private citizens and even some members of the ruling party have mercilessly spoken and written disaparagingly about Prime Minister," Tata said. Depressed to see the attacks, Tata has put his hopes on PM as he said, "he will need to act boldly - to be courageous and to do the right thing. For the sake of the country we all hope he will. Yes, it is true that our country lost its growth momentum over the past 12 months, that investment confidence has declined, that inflation has soared and that government action has been "too little too late" – but to single out and blame the Prime Minister is grossly misdirected," Tata said. He also suggested that the political infighting and non-cooperation from the opposition is not helping India's cause. "We should also recognize the enormous damage done by political infighting; the single-minded goal of the Opposition to topple the Government; the allegations, accusations of corruption and illegal acts which have brought almost all Government action to a standstill," Tata said.While the opposition has been blaming the Prime Minister for the slowdown in economic growth, corruption and inflation, recently foreign media and some of his colleagues in the government too joined the chorus. Tata expressed concern on unconfirmed sensationalized stories in the media, policy manipulation by power brokers and powerful vested interest groups to meet their self-serving desire and about the policy changes which have destroyed the credibility of India. "He (PM) deserves the support of the people of India at this critical time. All eyes are on him here and overseas in what could be his "finest hour" in leading the country to economic prosperity once again," Ratan Tata tweeted. Source: Indian Express
