Modi govt scores a zero on job creation front: Chidambaram

The former finance minister said the 'NDA is merely imitating UPA's programmes and renaming them'

Former finance minister (FM) and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said, on the job creation front he would give the Narendra Modi-led government zero marks. Chidambaram, while addressing the media, took a swipe at his successor Arun Jaitley’s fiasco over Minimum Alternate Tax saying, “He coined the term tax terrorism, now it has come to haunt him.”  The former FM claimed the “National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was merely imitating United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) programmes and renaming them” and conceded that the “Modi government has advertised its work better. In hindsight we did not trumpet our achievements.”

Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) allegation that the Congress in Opposition was being “obstructionist”, Chidambaram said, “Mr Jaitley, when in Opposition, had stated that ‘obstructionism is a legitimate parliamentary practice’ but we in the Opposition are that. We have asked for the eight amendments made to the goods and services tax Bill to be referred to a Select committee, that too within a period of two months.”

Expressing surprise that despite the historic 282 mandate, the Modi government did not capitalise on it, Chidambaram said, instead it had “dumped the Direct Taxes Code, credit growth is at its lowest, core sector has performed poorly, 161 public sector projects and 585 private sector projects are stalled.”

The former FM asserted that the UPA government had recorded 8.5% average growth in 10 years, the highest by any government in an equivalent period. "Much of the promised 'achche din' is chunaavi jumla," Chidambaram said.

He insisted that much of the loud "achievements" that the BJP-led government was claiming as its own, were in fact started by the UPA.

Citing the financial inclusion scheme of opening bank accounts, he stated that while in total 38 crore bank accounts were opened till date, during the UPA regime the majority of 24 crore had been opened and the remainder 14 crore was done in the NDA regime.

Responding to the ongoing developments in the tussle for power between the Centre and the Delhi government, Chidambaram who is also a senior spokesperson of the Congress, said: "I have no sympathy for Arvind Kejriwal. However, the elected chief minister of a Union Territory must have significant say in the appointments and transfers of officers."