Ratan Tata tweets his support for PM

New Delhi: Leading industrialist Ratan Tata on Thursday took on the Opposition and tweeted his support for embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of criticism from the media and the people alike.

The Chairman of the USD 100 billion conglomerate also hit out at "some members of ruling party", saying it is "grossly misdirected" to single out the Prime Minister and blame him for the economic woes that the country is facing at present.

Tata wrote on his Twitter page, "Attacks on the architect of '91 reforms which brought us prosperity is sad and unfortunate. It's wrong to single out the PM for inflation, low investment confidence and slow growth."

"All eyes are on the PM here and overseas in what could be his finest hour in leading the country to economic prosperity once again.

"Now is the moment in time when our PM must break convention, restore government credibility, place the country on a growth path once again by implementing promised reforms, removing roadblocks to growth and controlling crony capitalism," he added.

Taking on the Opposition, Tata tweeted, "We should also recognise the enormous damage done by political infighting; the single-minded goal of the Opposition to topple the government... the allegations and accusations of corruption and illegal acts have brought almost all government action to standstill."

Turning his ire to the media, Tata said: "We should be concerned about unconfirmed sensationalised stories in the media to sell publications..."

Recently, the 'Time' magazine had termed Singh as an "underachiever", while UK-based 'The Independent' had wondered if he was "India's saviour or Sonia's poodle".

Tata also said the country must be concerned about "the manipulation of policy by power brokers and vested interest groups to meet their self serving desire to continue protection".

Asking Indians to support Singh, Tata said: "He deserves the support of the people of India at this critical time... 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."

(With additional information from PTI)