‘Standing on UPA's shoulders': P Chidambaram challenges FM Sitharaman's claims on Modi govt's achievements 

Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has responded to an article penned by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at length about the Modi government’s achievements. Chidambaram said if the Modi government stands tall, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of the former UPA government.

The Congress leader said that any government that has ruled for 5 to 10 years would be able to boast the achievements that the finance minister spoke of. “Every government will have achievements to its credit. So does the Modi government. If the Modi government stands tall in some areas, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of the UPA government,” he said.

In her article for The Indian Express, FM Sitharaman said that the role of the Opposition has been to disrupt and delay the workings of the Modi government by filing petitions in the courts. “Over 15 cases, including on the GST, Article 370, vaccination, triple talaq, Central Vista, were vigorously argued only for them to lose in each one of them,” she said adding that all the time spent in the courts for these cases could have been utilised towards achieving goals in lesser than nine years of time – the period Modi government has been in power since 2014.

In his response, Chidambaram said that the finance minister was wrong. “The FM has cited 5 examples of the Opposition taking the government to Court and LOSING the case She is wrong at least in three: The SC had declared triple talaq illegal even before Parliament passed a law. The Article 370 case has not yet been heard by the Court. Numerous cases under the GST laws are pending,” he said.

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He also responded to the finance minister’s statement that India ranks second in fruit and vegetable production, first in milk production, third in poultry sector and is the second largest honey producers. “The Hon'ble FM claims credit for India achieving top ranks in production of milk, honey and fruit and vegetables. These ranks were achieved years ago and we retain those ranks,” he said.

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P Chidambaram said that FM Sitharaman claims credit for Direct Benefit Transfer. In her article she said that “total transfers through direct benefit transfer (DBT) are more than 29 lakh crore”. The Congress leader responded by saying, “She forgets that Aadhaar was conceived, created and rolled out by the UPA government and the first transfers under DBT were done by the UPA government.”

In her article, FM Sitharaman said that 11.72 crores of toilets have been constructed with 100 per cent saturation in rural areas. “She should read her own Government's reports on how many of them are unused and unusable because they lack water,” responded Chidambaram.

The Finance Minister, in her article, said that the past nine years were dedicated to lifting India from the “hopeless morass” it was thrown into by the previous government. She said that the next 25 years, leading to India@100 or 100 years of Indian independence will require similar “dedicated, corruption-free governance”.

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