Former union minister and Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is currently under judicial custody in Tihar jail, has expressed his deep concern over the state of economy in the country via twitter.
“I am deeply concerned about the economy. The poor are the worst affected. Lower incomes, fewer jobs, less trade and lower investment affect the poor and the middle class. Where is the plan to get the country out of this decline and gloom?” the former Home and Finance Minister’s tweet read.
I have asked my family to tweet on my behalf the following :-
Thank you all for your support. I must say I am amazed by the capacity of the poor (who I have had the chance to meet and interact with over the last few days) to distinguish between justice and injustice.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) September 11, 2019
The Congress leader also thanked his followers for their support and said he was “amazed by the capacity of the poor to distinguish between justice and injustice.”
Chidambaram’s comments come after other Congress leaders, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too questioned the government over the plunging GDP and prevalent unemployment in the country.
Earlier this month Singh said “all-round mismanagement” by the Modi government was responsible for country’s economic slowdown. “The state of the economy today is deeply worrying. The last quarter’s GDP growth rate of 5 per cent signals that we are in the midst of a prolonged slowdown. India has the potential to grow at a much faster rate but all-round mismanagement by the Modi government has resulted in this slow down,” he said in a statement.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also been questioning the government on Twitter over their economic policies. In one of her recent tweets Vadra said, “There is no GDP growth and the value of rupee is also falling. Employment has vanished.”
GDP विकास दर से साफ है कि अच्छे दिन का भोंपू बजाने वाली भाजपा सरकार ने अर्थव्यवस्था की हालत पंचर कर दी है।
न GDP ग्रोथ है न रुपए की मजबूती। रोजगार गायब हैं।
अब तो साफ करो कि अर्थव्यवस्था को नष्ट कर देने की ये किसकी करतूत है?#EconomicSlowdown#EconomyCrisis
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 31, 2019
Growth in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 5 per cent in the first quarter of current financial year (2019-20), which has fallen further as compared with 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter, and 8.0 per cent in the quarter ended in June 30, 2018.
On Sunday former Congress president Rahul Gandhi declared the government had the media in a “stranglehold” to drown out criticism. Gandhi’s tweet also targeted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman centre over the economic slowdown.
Congratulations to the Modi Govt on #100DaysNoVikas, the continued subversion of democracy, a firmer stranglehold on a submissive media to drown out criticism and a glaring lack of leadership, direction & plans where it’s needed the most – to turnaround our ravaged economy.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 8, 2019
The Finance Minister came under fire on Tuesday after appearing to link the crisis in the auto industry to changes in millennials’ behavior pattern who prefer Ola and Uber.
On Monday Chidambaram had written “I have no answer” to the question, “If the dozen officers who processed and recommended the case to you have not been arrested, why have you been arrested?”
Chidambaram is being investigated by the CBI and ED in the INX Media case and the Aircel-Marxis case. It is alleged that in 2007, as Finance Minister, he signed off on a huge infusion of foreign funds into INX Media at the instance of his son Karti, who allegedly received kickbacks for playing his part.
Chidambarams were named by INX Media co-founders Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail in Mumbai in connection with the murder of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora.