Sitharaman said the UPA regime s reckless fiscal policy, ill-targeted subsidies and wasteful expenditure were guided by the desire for political gain. She said the inflation rate had been below 4% in the last year of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (2003-4), but it remained significantly high during the 10-year UPA regime that followed. The finance minister said the Congress party had mastered the art of ruining the accomplishments of the previous government, as they did while managing inflation.