Jobs, farm distress main poll issues, not national security though it is important: Chidambaram

The Congress Sunday said national security is an important issue but the issues dominating the narrative in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were unemployment and farm distress.

Unveiling a report on national security by a task force headed by Lieutenant General (retd) D S Hooda, the Congress said it would be "completely wrong" to say that national security was dominating the poll narrative, though it is an important issue.

The Congress unveiled the report in the presence of senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh and said that its approach towards national security is "not ad hoc and not impulsive".

"As far as the election narrative is concerned, the number one issue remains unemployment. The number two issue is farm distress and the number three issue is security of various sections of the people, women, Dalits, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, forest dwellers, journalists, academicians and NGOs," Chidambaram told reporters.

When asked whether this report, which has been made public during the Lok Sabha elections, is meant to change the narrative on national security, Chidambaram said, "National security is an important aspect of the narrative. But to say that it is dominating the narrative is completely wrong."
He later sought to clarify, saying, "There is no need to give everything a political colour. The fact is that India is a growing economy. Now we are one of the largest economies in the world which is a fact and because of this we should leverage our position in global affairs."
On the prime minister's remark that while the BJP has "desh bhakti", it is "vote bhakti" for Congress, Ramesh said, "Taking away jobs or note ban or causing pain to farmers is not patriotism. Patriotism will not come by beating the chest, but by providing jobs to youth. There is a lot of difference between our patriotism and that of the BJP."
Chidambaram said Hooda's report is a broad outline of how to approach the issue of national security. "We have taken several features of Lieutenant General D S Hooda's plan (in the manifesto). These ideas will be implemented when we form our government."
The former home minister said, "We have spent many, many hours reflecting on the subject. We have developed several ideas and these ideas will be implemented when we are in government."
He said there are several structures within the government, like the National Security Advisory Board, the National Security Council, the Cabinet Committee on Security, through which the plan "will undergo revision."