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No mid-term poll, says PM |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has categorically ruled out the possibility of a mid-term poll. Speaking at a function in Chandigarh on September 24, he said the United Progressive Alliance Government will complete its tenure of five years, though there are occasional hiccups in the coalition’s functioning. He said all the UPA partners are committed to implementation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).
The Prime Minister said the declining number of those below the poverty line disproved the axiom that the “poor were getting poorer” after India involved itself in the changing global order.
While there was need to equip the nation with skills to fully utilise the opportunities available, systems were required to protect the weak from the inherent risks of the new order which was based on competition.
The Prime Minister who was speaking at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Chandigarh Press Club asked mediapersons not to cut corners and indulge in what he called hit-and-run tactics in the race for capturing markets. Without mentioning the recent turmoil in the financial markets, reportedly caused by wrong reports in the media, Dr. Manmohan Singh said : “How many mistakes must a journalist make, how many wrong stories, how many motivated columns before professional clamps are placed ? How does the financial media deal with market moving stories that have no basis in fact ? These are just a few questions, which the nation expects the media to answer.”
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