Former Finance Minister under the UPA government, P Chidambaram shot off an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in The Indian Express on 31st May, highlighting the various areas in which the government has fallen short of its promises.
In response today, MJ Akbar suggested that Chidambaram shied away from the actual subjects that matter to a common citizen - inflation, corruption, electricity - areas where the NDA government has performed better than UPA, according to Akbar.
Here are excerpts from both their pieces, which are both high on rhetoric.
Average Citizen
Chidambaram: “I am an average citizen. I belong to an average family, had an average education, live in an average town, hold an average job, and have average ambitions. I am aware that because I am the son of a school teacher, hold a bachelor’s degree (second class) and have a job, I may actually be above the average.”
Akbar: “Whether you agree or disagree with him, he certainly has a brain far above average, family pedigree, substantial inheritance, an extremely lucrative profession and a political career that has made him home as well as finance minister. There is nothing average by any conventional parameter.”
‘Anecdotal Evidence’
Chidambaram: “…anecdotal evidence has put fear in the minds of people and eroded trust in the government.”
Akbar: “You can lay a safe bet that if inflation had not fallen and corruption continued, they would have figured at the top of Chidambaram’s fudge-and-false-analogy column.
There is a reason why he never uses statistics, just “anecdotal evidence” and stray remarks. Statistical evidence would destroy his case, and every lawyer evades facts when they deflate his argument.”
Loans for Small Businesses
Chidambaram: “A relative of mine who runs a small business told me that banks are loath to give loans.”
Akbar: “I don’t know how small the business is, but if it is small enough, the relative can check with Mudra Bank. This has been set up by Modi to help those running small businesses, like vegetable vendors. Why did Chidambaram never think of such a bank? Possibly because small for him means at least 100 crore.”
Intolerance Against Minorities
Chidambaram: “Mr Julio Ribeiro expresses his anguish at the rise of intolerance against minorities, NGOs, and civil society activists. BJP governments in states ban the sale or consumption of beef.”
Akbar: Both Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP and Parkash Singh Badal’s Akali Dal are in alliance with the BJP… Let me tell you what the average citizen is asking. He is asking about Chidambaram’s complicity in the massacre of Muslims in Hashimpura in Uttar Pradesh when he was Union minister for internal security and there was a Congress government in Lucknow. He is asking Chidambaram about Batla House. He is asking why Chidambaram stopped the disbursement of allocated funds for the welfare of minority districts.
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