Mumbai: Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said that the BJP government at the Centre is a complete failure. “The continued silence of the prime minister in the alarming situation in Manipur illustrates my statement,” he added.
“Governance and policies in a secular, democratic country must give rise to a tide that will lift all boats. In that view, the NDA government has totally failed in the last nine years. What is worse is that the government does not even make an effort to correct its mistakes. It is our duty as an Opposition party to raise these issues and I am happy I got an opportunity to do so in Mumbai,” Chidambaram said.
Bulldozer justice has replaced natural justice: Chidambaram
“None believes that, under the NDA government, India lives up to the lofty Constitutional objectives of liberty, equality and fraternity. Social strife, communal conflict, intolerance, hate, fear and deep divisions among the people mar our lives every day,” Chidambaram said. “Bulldozer justice has replaced natural justice,” he said while highlighting the sorry state of affairs on the front.
“The government has curtailed the legislative and executive powers of the state governments. Governors of non-BJPruled states are acting like Viceroys. Debate in Parliament is becoming rare and even calls for vote by division on important Bills have been brushed aside. Legislation is pushed through without discussion. The Central government’s agencies have been deployed to destabilise state governments through false cases. There is scant respect for the verdicts of courts. Institutions, that are the independent pillars of a democracy, have been weakened to serve the ends of the Central government,” Chidambarm said.
While stating that the economy is growing modestly at a much-reduced pace, Chidambaram expressed concerns over unemployment rate and labour force participation rate. He also said that the prices are elevated and people are consuming less.
“There are 169 dollar-billionaires in India today even as 22.4 crore people (16% of the population) are poor according to the Global Multi-dimensional Poverty Index,” Chidambaram said.
