NEW DELHI, Dec 1: The BJP today demanded an apology from Union Minister P Chidambaram for his statement criticising BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for the Gujarat Chief Minister’s comments on economy.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said Mr Chidambaram, in a signed statement yesterday, claimed that Mr Modi has delivered his first lesson in economics.
She said Mr Chidambaram based his statement on a report in an English daily.
Ms Sitharaman said “much to the Minister’s discomfort”, the newspaper today has issued a clarification.
The paper has clarified that it had inadvertently used inflation instead of economic crisis in the report on Mr Modi’s rally. “The error is regretted,” the newspaper said.
“Through his hurried statement, typically worded with pompousness and put-on sarcasm, P Chidambaram has only rushed to cover-up his failures to manage the economy. The Minister has failed to check what actually was said by Narendra Modi. Had he only checked the speech, P Chidambaram would have known that ‘aarthik sankat’ were the exact words used and not ‘inflation’,” Ms Sitharaman said.
The BJP spokesperson said “delivering lectures and lessons may interest the Minister”, while Mr Modi continues with providing good governance and development to all people in Gujarat.
“All ‘economists’ are already taking due ‘note’ of Mr Modi’s performance vis-à-vis the worsening current account deficit (CAD) for which he (P Chidambaram) and his party are solely responsible,” Ms Sitharaman said.
Ms Sitharaman, further, said in his ‘hasty’ statement, ‘unbecoming’ of a Union Minister, Mr Chidambaram ‘betrays’ his party’s “incapacity and frustration” to politically engage with Mr Modi.
Ms Sitharaman said the BJP demands an apology for the signed statement by the Union Finance Minister now that the newspaper has issued its regret.
Mr Chidambaram was reacting to the reported remarks of Mr Modi at an election rally at Jodhpur in which the Gujarat Chief Minister had said the Union Minister has attributed inflation to buying gold.
“After history lesson, Narendra Modi has delivered his first lesson in economics. I recall having said on many occasions that buying gold, which is almost entirely imported, worsens current account deficit. I don’t recall saying that buying gold causes inflation,” Mr Chidambaram had said in his statement.
Mr Modi, while reacting to the Union Minister’s statement said Mr Chidambaram was “resorting to lies”.
“It is unfortunate that in giving ‘lessons’ to me, the Finance Minister has to resort to lies. Chidambaram ji, this video might help you comprehend what exactly I said on gold and the economy,” Mr Modi had tweeted attaching a video of his rally’s speech.
(UNI)
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