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PM’s development, job promises give way to temples, statues: Congress

PM’s development, job promises give way to temples, statues: Congress

P. ChidambaramNew Delhi : Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday took a dig at the BJP for promising statues and temples ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after failing to fulfil its earlier poll promises of development and jobs.

“At the beginning of five years, the promise is for development, jobs and money in every citizen’s bank account,” the Congress veteran tweeted.

“Nothing achieved, at the end of five years, the new promise is for grand temples, giant statues and doles,” he said as he reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his earlier promises of vikas (development), providing two crore jobs annually and bringing back black money stashed in foreign tax havens and filling up the poor man’s coffer with Rs 15 lakh each.

Chidambaram’s latest jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party comes at a time when the saffron brigade has been raising the pitch for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.

—IANS

PM’s development, job promises give way to temples, statues: Congress

Back series GDP calculation proved UPA years best: Chidambaram

P. ChidambaramNew Delhi : Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to match up with the UPA’s GDP rate in its fifth year and said that back series calculation of GDP has proved that the best years of economic growth were the UPA years 2004-2014.

Quoting figures of the recently released Ministry of Statistics’ data, Chidambaram said: “Truth has triumphed. The back series calculation of GDP has proved that the best years of economic growth were the UPA years 2004-2014.”

“The average growth rate under four governments since 1999 were– NDA I – 5.68 per cent, UPA I – 8.36 per cent UPA II – 7.68 per cent and NDA II – 7.35 per cent (four years),” Chidambaram tweeted.

“I wish the Modi government well in its fifth year. It can never catch up with UPA I, but I wish it catches up with UPA II,” he added.

Chidambaram said that the UPA governments delivered the best ever decadal growth and lifted 140 million people out of poverty and thanked the people for the opportunity to serve them for 10 years.

—IANS

Will RSS, BJP condemn radical Hindu outfits who plan terror attacks: Chidambaram

Will RSS, BJP condemn radical Hindu outfits who plan terror attacks: Chidambaram

P. ChidambaramNew Delhi : A day after the Maharashtra ATS arrested three men affiliated to radical Hindu outfits for plotting terror attacks, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday asked if the RSS and BJP would condemn those outfits.

“Maharashtra ATS announced the arrest of three men affiliated to radical Hindu outfits. Who rules Maharashtra? The BJP. Hindu, Muslim or any other religion, radicalism is radicalism. Terror is terror. There is no purpose in burying one’s head in the sand,” said Chidambaram on Twitter.

“Will the RSS and BJP condemn those who are plotting and planning terror attacks?” he asked.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday claimed to have foiled a terrorist attempt to strike in different parts of the state following the arrest of three persons and seizure of at least 20 crude bombs and expolsives and material used in bomb-making.

Official sources said the first to be arrested early Friday was Hindu Janjagran Samiti (HJS) activist Vaibhav Raut from his home in Nala Sopara, Palghar district.

Later, his accomplice Sharad Kalaskar was arrested from there by the ATS teams, which were accompanied by a dog squad and forensics experts.

A third right-wing activist Sudhnava Gondhalekar — allegedly linked to Shri Shiv Pratisthan — was arrested from Pune.

The sources said that the accused planned to carry out terror hits in Mumbai, Pune, Solapur and Satara districts in the coming few days.

—IANS

PM’s development, job promises give way to temples, statues: Congress

Calling Rahul jehadi-Maoist sympathiser is absurd: Chidambaram

P. ChidambaramNew Delhi : Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s allegation that “jehadists and Maoists” have earned the sympathy of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is “laughable and absurd” former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Saturday, adding that the party is “stoutly opposed” to the two groups.

Jaitley, in his hard-hitting blog post on Friday had said while “jehadis and Maoists” were threatening the rights of citizens, human rights organisations “taken over by the ultra-left” never spoke of this.

He alleged that even though the Congress historically and ideologically would have been opposed to these groups, they have earned sympathy in Rahul Gandhi’s heart.

“He had no qualms about joining those who raised subversive slogans at JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Hyderabad.

“With this initial success, the others amongst the so-called federal front have forgotten the dangers of these groups to India and Indian democracy.

“The political adventurists in parties like AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), TMC (Trinamool Congress) and the like only look for a political opportunity in these groups,” he wrote in his blog.

Senior Congress leader Chidambaram, hit out at Jaitley saying the United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress had fought the jehadis in Jammu and Kashmir and brought down the level of violence substantially.

“The allegation that jehadists and Maoists have earned the sympathy of Rahul Gandhi is laughable and absurd. Congress is stoutly opposed to the two groups,” Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

“Who can forget that Congress practically lost its entire leadership in Chhattisgarh to Maoist violence? Under UPA, the government fought the jehadists in Jammu and Kashmir and brought down the level of violence substantially,” he added.

The Union Minister, who underwent kidney replacement in May and is yet to rejoin his office, in his blog had said that the terrorists and the jehadis were threatening the human rights of the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir.

“They terrorise courts; they kill editors; they kill innocent citizens and they don’t allow any alternate religion to be practised. Who is threatening the human rights of the citizens of Kashmir? It is obvious that it is the terrorists and the jehadis.”

Meanwhile, Maoists don’t allow any development activity in tribal regions, he said. “They kill innocent tribals who don’t agree with them; they destroy public buildings; they kill security personnel and they even charge a parallel tax from helpless citizens.”

He said human rights were at the core of India’s Parliamentary democracy and the Constitution guaranteed these to every citizen. “Our policy has to be ‘save the human rights of every Indian – be it a tribal or a Kashmiri’ from terrorists,” Jaitley had written.

However, he had accused the human rights organisations of being taken over by the ultra-left and said they never spoke about the deprivation of the human rights of the citizens, and “never shed a tear for the indiscriminate killing of the security personnel”.

“These human right organisations are an over-ground face of the underground. In the system that they believe in, there is no place for life, liberty, equality and free speech, election or Parliamentary democracy.”

—IANS

Will RSS, BJP condemn radical Hindu outfits who plan terror attacks: Chidambaram

BJP’s policy blunders causing economic failure: Chidambaram

P. ChidambaramNew Delhi : Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said the BJP government’s “administrative incompetence” and “policy blunders” were responsible for the rising farm distress, unemployment and failure of economy.

“Farmers’ despondency has turned into anger and they have come to streets to protest,” the senior Congress leader told reporters here.

“The principal reasons are uneconomic price for farm produce and stagnant wages of farm labour. MSP (Minimum Support Price) is not adequate. Every farmer knows that the promise of MSP = Cost + 50 per cent is a ‘jumla’,” he said.

Chidambaram said the Reserve Bank of India’s confidence survey stated that 48 per cent felt that the economic situation of the country had worsened in the last 12 months.

He said unemployment was rampant in the country, which was “far cry” from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s promised two crore jobs a year.

Chidambaram questioned why the Labour Bureau Survey for October-December 2017 not yet released.

Chidambaram said demonetisation had caused the growth rate to decline from 8.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 6.7 per cent in 2017-18.

“The Tamil Nadu government has officially acknowledged that 50,000 MSME units were shut down in the state in 2017-18; 5,00,000 jobs were lost; and capital investment in the MSME sector declined by Rs 11,000 crore,” he said.

A flawed Goods and Services Tax continues to haunt trade and business, he added.

Chidambaram said the social security laws and programmes have been neglected by the BJP-led central government.

“The Food Security Act has not been implemented. MGNREGA is no longer demand-driven, wage arrears have mounted. Crop Insurance covers barely 30 per cent of farmers, it is a windfall for insurers. Health Protection Scheme is another ‘jumla’,” he said.

—IANS