The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance must snap out of the “election campaign mode” and drop the “political rhetoric” for the business of governance, the Congress advised the new government on Friday even as it took umbrage at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the >UPA government of leaving behind “empty coffers.”
The former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram ripped apart Mr. Modi’s critique of the UPA government, pointing out that the Congress-led government had left behind a healthier cash balance and vastly improved foreign exchange reserves. It was the NDA, he said, that had left behind an “empty treasury.”
“The opening cash balance on June 1, 2004 just after the NDA government demitted office was negative Rs. 2,730 crore,” he said, pointing out that the opening cash balance on June 1, 2014 just after the UPA demitted office was Rs. 26,510 crore. “We do not subscribe to empty coffers theory but for the sake of argument, we would like to ask who left behind an empty treasury.”
