Chidambaram slams Modi, says PM cannot take Gujarat out of him

The senior Congress leader said Modi was still in “pre-May 26 mode” and was campaigning for Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana as if he were the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

“He is no longer CM of Gujarat but PM of India. Therefore, people are entitled to ask what has been accomplished in the last 120 days in office,” Chidambaram said.

He also ridiculed Modi and other BJP leaders over their claim that Gujarat was ahead of Maharashtra in terms of development.

“There is nothing to support the claim that Gujarat is better than Maharashtra. There is no question that Maharashtra is the leading industrial state in India. It attracts the largest amount of domestic and foreign investment.

“It is churlish and uncharitable for anyone to denigrate Maharashtra. To say that nothing happened in Maharashtra in last so many years is rubbish,” Chidambaram said, adding it was “unfortunate that someone comes and tries to sell the ‘Gujarat model’ in Maharashtra”.

Chidambaram claimed the Modi government was continuing many of the UPA government’s schemes after renaming them.

“We had the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. They have renamed it as Swachh Bharat campaign. We had launched a no frills account, also called zero bank balance account scheme, which they have renamed as PM Jan dhan scheme,” he said.

“We launched a skill development programme and appointed S Ramadorai as the Chairman of National Skill Development Agency. The Modi government has renamed it and launched it as Skill India programme,” Chidambaram said, adding he was yet to see any new programmes from the Modi government.

As cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ was fast approaching Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts, Chidambaram said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had no members after they were asked to resign by the new government.

New members should have been appointed to ensure prompt response to natural calamities like cyclones and floods, he said.

Posts of Chief Information Commissioner, CVC and chairmen in half-a-dozen banks were vacant. The Planning Commission has been wound up. Where are the independent economic advisors to the government? How is this good governance when key posts in key organisations were left vacant. There were serious concerns about economic growth, he said.

“You get rid of people and you don’t replace them. This is what I call acting in haste and repenting at leisure,” Chidambaram said.

The former Union Minister said all decisions of Modi government were highly centralised and taken by the PMO. “That is the style of this government,” he said.

About the Prime Minister slamming the opposition for dragging ceasefire violations by Pakistan into political discourse, he said, “Modi flayed Congress alleging poor border management during UPA government. He called the UPA a weak government. Did he not raise these issues during Lok Sabha poll campaign?”

“Now, the PM says nobody should raise these issues in public,” he said and added in October alone, there were 63 incidents of LOC violations and 10 Indian lives were lost.

Chidambaram said the Prime Minister should talk to opposition parties, including Congress and two major Communist parties on a regular basis. “It is not a healthy practice not to maintain a dialogue with other parties,” he said.

He said he was not surprised at NCP pulling out of the alliance with Congress in Maharashtra and withdrawing support to the Prithviraj Chavan government. “Their decision led to President’s rule in Maharashtra and several leaders within NCP are blaming Ajit Pawar for it,” he said.