)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today dismissed finance minister P. Chidambaram’s suggestion that Ram temple was an electoral issue for the party.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said questions of lack of development, inflation and unemployment were the issues the party focused on in this election. Prasad said the Ram Janmabhoomi issue was an “eternal truth” for the party and discussed in the party’s Palanpur resolution of 1989.
“It is not an electoral issue but an issue that is related to people’s sentiments,” said Prasad, to a question that Chidambaram has charged the BJP leadership, barring Uma Bharti, for being less than candid on the BJP’s core Ram temple issue.
Prasad’s remarks were a continuation of the back and forth trading of epithets like puerile, selective amnesia, distant memory, uttering white lies and spoiler that the finance minister Chidambaram and BJP leaders Prasad and Yashwant Singh have traded with each other in the last couple of days.
On Sunday, Sinha posed 18 questions to Chidambaram on how the latter under his tenures as the country’s finance minister contributed to decelerating growth. Sinha alleged that Chidambaram had brought the Indian economy to its knees repeatedly in its three stints as India’s finance minister. Sinha also claimed that Ram temple wasn’t an electoral issue for the party. He said the BJP was contesting 2014 elections on people centric issues like economic development, inflation, unemployment, education, health, etc.
Prasad today welcome Chidambaram’s rebuttal of Sinha’s comments made on Sunday. “We are happy that the electoral debate is on economic issues. This is the first time the Congress has said something on the poor state of economy,” said he, but added that it was a matter of concern that Chidambaram had got “retired hurt” in his very first attempt at responding to BJP’s charges.
Prasad charged Chidambaram of suffering from selective memory and uttering white lies about Narendra Modi having encouraged crony capitalism. “Can there be a bigger white lie than this,” asked Prasad, adding that the “Congress-led government and Chidambaram in particular were the biggest patrons of crony capitalism.” He said the 2G scam, Aircell-Maxis deal and coal scam were three instances of crony capitalism in which the Congress and Chidambaram were involved.
Prasad said the BJP had asked Chidambaram about the galloping inflation, rising unemployment, slow construction of national highways, increase in the rate of dollar against the rupee, decline in growth in the manufacturing sector, etc. “It is good that Chidambaram conceded employment generation was more during NDA years. But all he could come up in his defence was that the number of self employed had gone up during UPA’s tenure. I am sure he will also soon be self employed, returning to his law practice after 10-years. I wish him well as he will definitely increase the number of self employed in the country,” said Prasad.
The senior BJP leader accused Chidambaram of not telling the whole truth about GDP growth. “UPA 1 reaped what NDA had sowed but UPA 2 suffered the toxic harvest of UPA1,” said Prasad. He said Chidambaram blames international factors for slow growth but the NDA faced severa such internal and international factors like sanctions after Pokhran nuclear tests, the drought in 2002, East Asian economic crisis, the Kargil war and terror attacks on our Parliament. Yet, we improved the economy during the NDA years and left government at a high growth rate of 8%,” said he.
Prasad said Chidambaram was satisfied that international rating agencies have stopped downgrading India. “It is indeed a pity that the finance ministry of a big country like India is seeking vicarious pleasure that we aren’t being downgraded when this country wants to be upgraded. I regret to say his sentiment is very unfortunate,” said he.
Prasad, a Rajya Sabha MP, said Chidambaram running away from contesting from Sivaganga was the “first open confession by a tottering Congress that it has no will to fight”. “The stock exchange knew this meant a BJP government. It sent a signal that there won’t be a Congress finance minister, which made the stock exchange surge,” said Prasad, adding that most people were happy at the prospect of a Modi government. He said the NDA government got a base of 4.6% in 1998, and left it at above eight% in 2004. “Chidambaram and company have again brought it down to 4.6%,” said he. Prasad said BJP-led state governments were notching up 10% growth, adding that it will require a lot of hard work.
