Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the UPA government’s policies which "lack urgency or seriousness" in tackling economic crises and the "sense of pessimism" in the 12th plan. He was addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road in New Delhi.

Fresh from his thumping third win in the recently held Gujarat elections, Modi staked his claim for the prime ministership in his own trademark way when he told the party workers, “I met PM in the NDC meet today and told him that the nation is not happy with the way he is governing the country. I also told him that he lacks the vision to take this nation forward.”

“They planned 9% growth but stalled at 7.9%. Sadly, today they have stopped thinking about 9%. This has come down to 8.2%. The whole country today met to contribute to this 0.3% increase. The country is not able to go up from 7 percent and Gujarat is not stepping down from 9% bracket,” he said amid cheers from the party workers.  

“In the 20-point development programme, no Congress or UPA state is in the top 5. The government, rather than encouraging those states, stopped publishing the bi-annual report,” he told the gathering.

Earlier at the 57th National Development Council (NDC) meeting in the national capital, Modi said, “It seems that there is no urgency or seriousness in tackling economic crises facing the country. There has been a virtual lack of direction in the macroeconomic management of the country.”

Modi sought to project the Gujarat model of development by listing out the initiatives taken by him in various sectors including agriculture, urban development and decentralised planning.