Terming the BJP government “bankrupt”, former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday alleged it had betrayed the massive mandate given by the electorate just seven months ago.
Speaking to reporters following a rousing reception accorded by the Congress workers at the Tiruchi airport, he said the country was in the grip of severe economic crisis. The government could not understand the magnitude of the crisis, and it was clueless on reviving the economy.
Asked whether he wanted Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to relinquish the finance portfolio owning moral responsibility, Mr. Chidambaram said he could not make such a demand when the government was just seven-month old. But, it had betrayed the massive mandate given by the electorate.
No one would have dreamt of betrayal to such a level within a short span of time, Mr. Chidambaram said, adding that he was not the first person to describe Finance Minister as an incompetent person to hold the portfolio. “The renowned Economist magazine and many economists had described her as an incompetent manager and the Narendra Modi government as incompetent.” The misdeeds in running the government had time and again proved the notion, he said.
Mr. Chidambaram said that the state of affairs of the economy was “very bad”. About 30 crore people, who were daily wage labourers, got an average of 22 to 23 days of employment before demonetization. According to a recent survey of the National Sample Survey, the number of days of employment had come down to 12 to 15 a month. It meant that their annual income had shrunk by 50 %. It had dealt a heavy blow on them. Similarly, the consumption level had also come down to 24%. It had ultimately brought down the buying power of the people, causing cascading effects on various aspects of the economy. On the contrary, the government was thinking on supporting only a section of corporate.
The former Finance Minister said that the government was planning to increase the Goods and Services Tax on various goods. It would hit hard all sections of the society mainly poor and middle class.
On National Citizenship Bill, Mr. Chidambaram said that the need of the hour was to frame a comprehensive and holistic refugee policy on whether to accord asylum or reject certain refugees. But, the National Citizenship Bill had many provisions to create confusion among the citizens and causes discrimination on religion.
He said that there were many mistakes in local body elections announced the State Election Commission in the State. They were many flaws on delimitation and reservation. The DMK was contemplating to move the Supreme Court, seeking remedy, he said.
