UPA ally NCP on Wednesday had a dig at Home Minister P. Chidambaram over his remarks criticizing the middle class for protesting against the rise in wheat and rice prices with its leader D.P. Tripathi saying that the sarcasm was unexpected from a “cultured and educated man”.
“I wish the common man in India was as prosperous as Chidambaram. I did not expect this kind of sarcastic remark from a cultured and educated man like Chidambaram,” Mr. Tripathi, also the spokesperson of NCP, said.
Talking to reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday, Mr. Chidambaram had said people were ready to pay Rs. 15 for a bottle of water and Rs. 20 for a cone ice cream, but protested against rise in prices of wheat and rice.
“You are prepared to pay Rs. 15 for a bottle of water, but we will not pay a one rupee increase in the price of a kilo of rice or a kilo of wheat. We are prepared to pay 20 rupees for an ice cream cone but we will not pay one rupee more for a kilo of rice or wheat,” he had said.
He was replying to a question on the plight of the middle class in view of high food inflation and price rise.
On Tuesday BJP too had attacked the Home Minister terming his remark as “scandalous” and “bizarre”.
“It seems that Mr Chidambaram has inappropriately made a scandalous remark against the middle class and is ridiculing them. BJP would treat this remark as a complete hate statement reflecting the inner contradictions of the government itself,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said.
Another BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain had said Mr. Chidambaram does not understand the pain of the common man as he is confined to “air-conditioned rooms and flying in planes”.
“Chidambaram and the Congress are far removed from the common man. His comments are a joke on the people in a country where 50-60 crore live below the poverty line,” he had said.
Keywords: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, middle class remark, NCP, UPA ally
I think everyone here is trying to read his comments as per their convenience and completely out of context....he was not against the middle class, in his complete speech he never used the term middle class.
He just wanted to say that we are willing to pay for the luxury items whereas they are protesting when there is a price rise in their basic necessity, so they are not ready to pay for their basic needs.
Now what is wrong in this? It has now become a fashion to criticize the government and their ministers. I think we've become too liberal, where we underestimate the problems of the government. It is very easy to comment sitting at home, these are economical issues so certainly there will be some one who will benefit and some one who will loose.
They cannot please everyone.
I'm sorry for the Government, that their own people are forgetting to value its importance and support it during crisis.
I guarantee you that no government can please all its citizen.
Dear Mr. Chidambaram,
I eat 10 kgs of rice in a month. I use 20 liters of petrol in a month. After going through the challenges of work and life in a average month, I feel I am entitled to one or two, 20 Rs. ice cream cones. Now are you suggesting instead of eating the ice cream, I save the 20 Rs. so that I can purchase the expensive rice/ petrol and in turn fill up the coffers of marketing companies which in turn be looted by contractors / minister etc?
At Bangalore Chidambaram was reeling out statistics to prove what
UPA II in the last couple of years have achieved ,albeit the slowdown
in economy. To counter the statistics Let Chidambaram clarify at
least on three of his statistical highlights.
What is the need for buying water at Rs 15 if the municipalities and
Government can ensure safe drinking water from pipes.It is a well
known fact that, drinking water in cities and towns are unsafe and
mixed with sewage.
Food grain are overflowing in the godowns. Against this figure what is
the extent of food grains that go rotting every year and what action
the government has taken to rectify other than Center and states
playing blame games. HM knows very well ,the undernourished children
in the villages suffering without even one meal.
As against thousands of schools claimed as built ,how many existing
school building are unsafe and function without teachers and basic
facilities of water and toilets.Children are taught in open.
Mr PC, how many ice creams does a middle class or even a lower middle
class individual consume? Compare that with the amount of basic food
grains that the same individual needs to stay alive reasonably well.
Surely this isn't the era of the Raj that we must all live on rice and
salt every day?
Furthermore, so many years after independence, why does the common man
need to pay so much for water (also for ice cream) at all? Surely we
aren't all hostages of circumstance in our independent country, administered by an elected govt, many of whom seem to be overloaded
with degrees?
This is no different from Montek claiming that spending Rs 35 lakh on
two toilets in the so-called Planning Commission is a good thing
because "facilities are improving" (improving at what cost, and
accessible to what fraction of our people?)
First of all the government has failed upfront to tackle rising inflation and corruption because of its poor policies and on top of it Mr Chindambaram is blaming the average middle class. It seems he is illusioned if he thinks that aam adami is drinking only mineral water and having icecream cones.He owes an apology to the average middle class for making such baseless remarks.Its high time that the country realizes that its best to get away with these oldies and have the younger generation take charge.
What Mr. Chidambaram fails to accept is the fact that despite 65 years
after Independence, 50 years of Congress rule, clean drinking water
has to be 'purchased' for 15/- a bottle.
Can Mr. Chidambaram provide clean drinking water for free to start
with. And then suggest the middle class shouldnt complain ?
If Farmers are struggling its due to Agriculture minister busy playing
cricket. Is being a cabinet minister a part time job ? that too for an
important portfolio like Agriculture where much of our GDP lies in.
Shame on us for electing such politicians.
What Chidambaram said is 100% correct.We public are hypocrites.We will spend money for luxury things(marriage,entertainment etc).But we will think 100 times for spending money for health welfare matters.
Even though we are not poor but we are made to poor.
See GH-cleanliness & hygenic condions are mandatory. even if we collect Rs.2/- for entry fees in the hospital ,it is a crime for political parties.
Some UPA ministers have their feet in their mouths instead of thë gift of the gab. It is for such wise men that the Englishman said, "Silence is golden
"We are prepared to pay 20 rupees for an ice cream cone but we will not pay one rupee more for a kilo of rice or wheat". ....Mr Chidambaram, we don't have ice-cream daily. And I pay for those ice-cream when my child, who I love the most in this world asked for it 20 times and I abstained myself by making an excuse that I will get a cold. There may be the need to increase the price but this is not the right way to compare.
I don't find anything wrong with Mr. Chidambaram's statement. He was
just talking only about middle class and not the poor. He expressed a
genuine, existing fact. But again it has given another chance for BJP to
attack the govt. In the name of courtesy people are trying to hide the
fact. I hope BJP does not mean the people who are capable of buying a
liter water bottle at 20 Rs, poor. If they mean then i would have to
consider my country as an extremely poor nation.
I wonder to who he was speaking to! Middle class cannot afford to buy bottled water and icecream (probably no need even) even once a week, that too not for the whole family. But they have to buy wheat or rice every day for the whole family. They need to eat 3 times a day. Was he educated in Cambridge or Oxford? Some quarters are tipping him as the next FM. Good luck India
Chidambaram like any other congress leaders do not know how many people starve for a
morsel of food. He does not know how many villages do not have drinking water. if people
buy mineral water it is a national shame. Politicians deliberately make water scarce to
promote business on MNCs, on whose pay roll politicians are. Politiical Saitans sholuld not
preach any more. The cains have made a hell of .india.
chidambaram is our union home minister and he doesn't know that below
poverty line people are never use to drink a mineral water they only
drink "null ka pani".And the wheat and rice are the only ways of
feeding so how can middle class people get quite.And one more thing
that ministers have millions or billion rupees in their pocket but
they still paying one rupee for cup of tea and chicken biryani at
rupees 34.Veg thali (dal, subzi,4 chapatis, rice/pulao, curd and
salad) Rs.12.50.Non-veg thali Rs.22.I can merely suggest you sir must visit the slum and see how the Indian are living.And menu of your
canteen is deserve that poor fellows.
Ask Mr Pc to serve Petrol at the price of an ice cream.
Problem with ministers like these are that they have lost touch with the reality and the masses. Having amassed wealth that would help them lead good enough lives, they fail to understand the pain of the masses. Lost touch
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram is very good in economics of expenditure,he nicely explained useless expenditure of some people of our society.
But,his thoughts are far from the ground level of reality our average countrymen facing with meagre and limited source of income and big responsibilities.I positively think long term price stability can lead to satisfaction of people with globlising economy.
Mr.Chidambram's remark clearly reflect his insensitiveness towards the plight of Middle Class.In fact, he is not aware that ICECREAM is not purchased daily.Mostly poor children do not know what is the icecream.Those who take,can count , how many icecreams they have taken in their childhood.His this plea is totally irrelevant as a lawyer.
Shri Chidambaram seems to have forgotten that every individual in every family needs rice or wheat to allay at least a part of his hungry belly
at least as one meal per day while it is a miniscule of the population
who afford an icecream (that too as not every meal every day!).Being a finance wizard, would he not know where and how it pinches the poor to pay a paltry single extra rupee for wheat or rice.Poor people don't cry
hoarse unless it affects their mere existence and therefore,I feel, should not be ridiculed especially by a member of the Govt. for "am- admi".
Mr Chidambaram may be is suffering from foot in the mouth disease. He probably doesn't realise that people who are protesting against the hike in the price of wheat & rice cannot afford to buy a bottle of water or an ice-cream cone. If he has said these words he better apologize to the nation.
How many ice cream does a common man buy for the joy of his children in
a year and how many kg of rice does he need to live in this corrupt
country.
So, you realize that we can get only 2 bottles of water for 32 rupees a day! Please tell this to MONMOHAN(montek n manmohan) too.!
..and because of your foolish policies only, we are buying mineral water at 15 rupees and ice cream(dairy product) at 20 rupees.
What Chidambaram said about the Ice cream and bottled water is correct - there is a class of people who can splash their money - the children of government officials etc. But this class of people is not comparable with the class of people who complain about price of wheat and rice. It is not that class of people who drink bottled water at Rs.15/- and eat icecream at Rs.20/- a cone who complain about the price rise in wheat and rice, but those whose income is limited - like lower middle income group who form a chunk of our population and who are finding it difficult to manage their household budgets. Mr.Chidambaram being a political person has to defend his government and yet he needs to be honest in his comments.
Mr. P Chidambaram dont even whats daily need to survive thats is wheat and rice etc..He is comparing Bottle of water and cone icecream with this..For me its a shame to think like this. People like you can buy as many water bottle and as many cone icecream , But for your information for common man , they are occasionally buying a water bottle and cone icecream only when its needed to make fun and happy...Now question is how he became a educated and cultured man ?
Chidambaram had proved himself as one of greatest home minister that India can ever have but his comments shows his intellectual arrogance as some one mentioned in the parliament. Such a comment should have not come from him.
Chidambaram ji he forget to think that they are the government bring the country to buy the drinking water for 15 Rs because of the unavailability of the good drinking water in public places And UPA government thinking once people born as middle class we won’t be a normal upper middle class we want to die as a middle class. Because they known the country people as an election votes & money earning machine they don’t want to know about the people’s life status. Noooooooo!
Mr.Chidambaram your remarks about the middle class is most bizarre. Can't you differentiate
between what is a necessacity and what is not?
I can live without an ice cream or bottled water,but not without rice or wheat. It is a pity that
those in power in our poor country have such a mind set,considering the complaining classes
such as the "Middle classes", irresponsible,if not petulant.
If the NCP is honest and sensitive enough to middle class.........They should withdraw
from UPA immediately ........In place of making hopeless and useless comments.......!!
Intellectual arrogance as coined by Digvijay singh
By saying that the people are ready to pay Rs.15 for a bottle of water
is the minister insinuating that the people should either die of
thirst or by drinking hard unclean water? Would the people shell out
the money had the GoI been providing clean drinking water in the first
place? Ice creams, in a way is needed for the summer but it costs Rs.
20, partly because the water costs Rs. 15. I remember in 2003-2004,
the cost of an ice cream was Rs.5! The minister cannot increase the
prices for the benefit of few and blame the attitude of middle
class... The people make noise because they can't afford Rs. 15 for
water plus the increase in food prices... I'm really stunned that the
minister is so insensitive and is lack in judgement...
I believe the attitude of UPA is to bring "animal spirits", so the
rich and powerful can prey on the poor and helpless....
Like people are having 15Rs bottled water and ice cream at least 2 times daily.
Indeed bizarre comment from PC. Does he think that we drink 15 Rupee water and eat ice cream every day just like we eat rice and wheat? Desparation shows when you have to say something when you've nothing worth saying.
Government procures grains at higher prices to placate the farmers , makes them rot
in open spaces and then blames the middle class for complaining about higher grain
prices.
Even the ally of UPA Govt NCP is attacking Chidambaram personally
for his atrocious remarks about the middle class people of
India.This amply shows that Chidambaram is neither a person of
our culture nor a knowledgeable man. If the Govt supplies good
drinking water to the people why should they resort to buy water
at Rs 15 a bottle. Whose mistake is this? Is this the fault of
the middle class people? As a matter of fact, most of the middle
class men boil the water supplied by the local authority, cool it
and give them to their children. Otherwise their monthly medical
bill will go up!! Are they buying ice creams for their children
daily. It is a luxuary. Secondly, is the farmer who cultivates
paddy or wheat gets the increased price of Re 1/-levied on the
middle class consumer? Will Chidambaram answer this also? In
Tamilnadu, Karunanidhi the DMK Chief used to call Chidambaram
when he was in youth Congress, by a nick name "Chinnapaiyan"
which means an immature fellow. This is true today
Vinasa kale vipareeta buddhi. These remarks are the indication that inflation situation is beyond control and thus makes person of Union Home Minister stature speak like that.
this is not a chidambrum fault, this is a fault of middle class because they have voted to congress, congress is never friendly to middle class, they are the government for richest person,so please all the middle class never vote to congress and ready for a chanage that helps to remove the congress in India.
Mr Chidambaram has violated the code of conduct and oath that he has taken while assuming the office as a MP. He has taken oath that he will act in a fair way and will not discriminate or create any bias while executing his duties. He is unfit to be a MP and a minister. I fear what will happen if the so called FM portfolio is given to him. We will be taxed more.
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