Whenever in power, the Congress has always remained constructive and the BJP, which is ruling now has been destructive in its approach, said former Union finance minister and Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram here on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at Karaikudi, he said that from the beginning of Jawaharlal Nehru’s era, the Congress had dedicated itself for the development of the nation, which had resulted in the flourishing of Public Sector Undertakings (PSU). The BJP, due to its wrong moves, has been disinvesting the stocks in the PSUs, he pointed out.
“Unable to understand even the basics in functioning of public offices, the present rulers neither have the mindset to rectify the flaws nor listen to the suggestions from Opposition parties. Due to the ‘adamant’ attitude of the BJP, the people are suffering”, he charged.
The reason behind the weakening rupee, factors leading to price rise, causes for joblessness, etc. was nothing but the wrong policies of the Union government. Not in a mood to accept their mistakes, the BJP government was handing out data, which was misleading and factually incorrect, Mr Chidambaram charged.
The Centre, he said, cannot dictate the States on the academic front by announcing One nation, One exam. “When we have a Minister for Higher Education in the respective States, the Centre can’t thrust its ideas through the back door. By doing so, it is forcibly taking over the powers vested with the States. Ultimately, it would turn disastrous,” he cautioned.
He also came down heavily against the BJP’s One India campaign and said that it should be opposed tooth and nail by one and all as the hidden agenda of the BJP was to turn the democratic fabric into an autocrat model. The country has many States. There are many languages. There are many traditions and culture. Hence, the nomenclature cannot be allowed to be changed or diluted in any manner.
The objective to celebrate the 75th year of Independence was welcome. However, the Union government cannot force people to buy flags. On the one hand, they propagate to eliminate single use plastics but want the people to hoist flags made of plastics. There were also complaints that essential goods were being issued in ration shops only if the consumers purchased the national flag.
Commenting on the 5G spectrum auction, Mr Chidambaram said the auction should have fetched ₹5 lakh crore, while it was only ₹1.5 lakh crore, according to the government’s reports. “People should think who will benefit from this,” he said.
He said, when there were very many pressing issues faced by the people, not much attention should be given to the meeting between Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi and actor Rajnikanth. “I don’t see anything wrong about them talking politics,” he quipped.
In a lighter vein, responding to a query on his chances of becoming the president of the All India Congress Committee, he said that not 100 per cent but 101 per cent.
