As the Narendra Modi Government celebrates its one-year in office, the Congress on Monday came out with a new set of complaints saying that the tenure so far was a missed opportunity as despite the new dispensation coming to power with full majority it has failed to carry out reforms.
Just like Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram also gave zero marks to the Modi Government on the issue of job creation even as he took a jibe at his successor Arun Jaitley saying that the term “tax terrorism” coined by him has “come to haunt him” now in the backdrop of tax notices to FIIs regarding Minimum Alternate Tax.
“I do not see any creation of jobs... What has one year brought in terms of jobs. In terms of jobs, I will give this Government zero”, he said.
Nevertheless, he”thanked” Prime Minister Modi for rolling out the UPA Government’s schemes and also complimented the Government for blowing its own trumpet better than the UPA in so far publicising their work is concerned.
Asked about NDA’s claim of providing governance without scams in the past one year, Chidambaram remarked that only time will tell whether right decisions were taken or wrong ones.
On BJP’s allegation that Congress was engaged in politics of obstructionism, Chidambaram said it was Jaitley who, in a speech in london, had said obstruction is legitimate Parliamentary tactics.
On GST Bill, the former FM said, “what is wrong” if the Standing Committee takes two months and reports back as there have been eight amendments. He said that elected MPs felt that GST is an important Constitution amendment which deserves to go to the Standing Committee.
Dismissing BJP’s charge that the UPA had practised crony capitalism, Chidambaram said that a record growth rate of 8.5 per cent would not have been possible if the allegations were correct.
Chidambaram further accused the Government of not passing on the full benefits of drop in international crude oil prices to consumers, claiming the Government has made a windfall of about Rs50,000 crores. He said that the petrol and diesel should have been selling at least Rs15 less per litre if the government had passed on the entire benefit.
The Congress also demanded that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar immediately withdraw his “terrible” statement suggesting that “terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists.”