Manmohan opposes DA hike freeze; Sonia writes to PM on MSME package

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh criticised the government’s move to freeze the hike in dearness allowance (DA) of 5.6 million government employees, and asked his party to stand with the employees.

In a video posted by the Congress party on Saturday, its former chief Rahul Gandhi and senior leader P Chidambaram pointed at the “extravagance” of the government spending money on the central vista development project and bullet train while subjecting government employees and even pensioners to cuts.

The Congress posted excerpts from a video conference of the party’s recently constituted 11-member consultative group.

In the excerpts, the former prime minister said, “I