Hours after Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram spoke to media and lashed out at the Government on the handling of economy and J&K, the BJP on Thursday accused him of violating bail conditions by claiming to have a very clear record as a Minister and asserted that the case against him was essentially about corruption he was allegedly involved in as the Finance Minister.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the claim of Chidambaram about his case, amounted to “self-certification”.
“P Chidambaram has violated the bail condition on the very first day after his release. What he said is in violation of this condition,” the BJP leader said.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, the Former Finance Minister had said earlier, "In the last 106 days, I was strong in spirit and I have become stronger because. My record as Minister and my conscience are absolutely clear."
Hitting out at the opposition leader over his attack on the Modi Government on a host of issues, Javadekar said he has got to speak to the media after so many days and that is why he was taking out his anger on every subject.
Some Congress leaders are in jail, some have just got out of jail and some are on bail, he said, adding that the opposition party has become desperate.
It is not that they were in jail for their role in "freedom movement" but due to criminal charges against them, he said.
On Chidambaram’s criticism of the Government that it had denied basic freedom to people in Kashmir since Article 370 was nullified in August, the Union Minister said all media outlets have been functioning in the Valley."Kashmir is now on path to progress," Javadekar said. At the beginning of his press conference, Chidambaram had said his first thoughts upon his release were with the Kashmiri people who "have been denied their basic freedoms since August 4, 2019." He said it was arrogance of the Government that played out in Kashmir.
Javadekar referred to the emergency imposed by the Congress in 1975 saying the then Indira Gandhi Government had clamped down on the media while the Modi Government has shared all information related to the situation in J&K with Parliament. The Government has allowed journalists from India and abroad to travel to Kashmir where, he added, incidents of stone-pelting have come down by more than half.
On former finance minister’s criticism of economic slide under the BJP dispensation, Javadekar said low inflation and high growth in economy have been the highlights of the Modi dispensation since 2014 while Congress regimes damaged country’s economy.