When RBI governor Raghuram Rajan recently described India as the “one-eyed king in a land of the blind” (he was assessing the Indian economy in a relative measure to the global outlook), Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, was not exactly pleased with his choice of words.
Yesterday (April 24), the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, decided to write a full-fledged column in a leading daily, defending Rajan and saying the present government “sees enemies even among friendly and neutral commentators.”
He proceeded to give statistical proof that the country was indeed witnessing a good growth rate, but was lagging on many other indices such as fiscal stability, employment, education, health care, inflation and poverty ratio — equally important parameters for a healthy economic outlook.
So the Commerce Minister did what one usually does in this day and age: take the fight on to Twitter.
@nsitharaman 18h18 hours ago
1. When the rest of the world finds India a bright spot, it is surprising the Fmr FM >@PChidambaram_IN thinks we are a one eyed wonder....
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
That’s a good start — yes, he agreed with what Rajan had to say.
@nsitharaman 18h18 hours ago
2. It is a reality that India today has moved far away from the policy paralysis the UPA inflicted on us. >@PChidambaram_IN
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
So far, so good. We’re still on the same subject …
@nsitharaman 18h18 hours ago
3. In St.Kitts affair,the then Rajiv Gandhi Govt fabricated a fake bank a/c in VP Singh's son's name- a crime of forgery.. >@PChidambaram_IN
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
3. In St.Kitts affair,the then Rajiv Gandhi Govt fabricated a fake bank a/c in VP Singh's son's name- a crime of forgery.. >@PChidambaram_IN
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
Okay, that escalated quickly.
4. In Ishrat Jahan case, meddling with the affidavits,is there a crime of perjury with a dash of anti-national brazenness? >@PChidambaram_IN
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
5. Thank God >@PChidambaram_IN , I don't suffer from a son stroke!
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) >April 24, 2016
And the return blows were not far away either. Chidambaram took to his keypad in no time and seemed to stay on track initially with the original premise:
1. The Govt is intolerant to the slightest criticism. A junior Minister was asked to snub the Governor of the Reserve Bank. For what?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) >April 25, 2016
Ah, “intolerance”. Good to see you again.
2. For quoting an ancient proverb to highlight the fact that instead of getting euphoric, we should b level headed & look at unfinished task
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) >April 25, 2016
That’s a good value add too! The adage, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” was coined by the Renaissance-age Dutch philosopher Erasmus.
But after a few tweets, all gloves are off:
6. The affidavit controversy is only to divert attention from the real issue in the Ishrat Jahan case.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) >April 25, 2016
7. Real issue is whether there was fake encounter & whether FOUR people already in custody were KILLED in that FAKE ENCOUNTER.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) >April 25, 2016