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Reacting to Prime Minister Naredra Modi’s call to light diyas on 5th April at 9 pm to show a united fight against coronavirus, Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must listen to the advice of epidemiologists and economists to tackle India’s economic woes.
“Dear PM Narendra Modi, we will listen to you and light diyas on April 5. But, in return, please listen to us and to the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists,” former Finance Minister tweeted.
Dear @narendramodi,
We will listen to you and light diyas on April 5. But, in return, please listen to us and to the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists.— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 3, 2020
He alleged that the Centre has ignored poor amid lockdown and it was expected that the government would announce a financial assistance plan (FAP) II to support them.
“What we expected from you today was FAP II, a generous livelihood support package for the poor, including for those categories of poor who were totally ignored by Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister) on March 25,” he wrote on Twitter.
What we expected from you today was FAP II, a generous livelihood support package for the poor, including for those categories of poor who were totally ignored by @nsitharaman on 25-3-2020.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 3, 2020
“Every working man and woman, from business person to daily wage earner, also expected you to announce steps to arrest the economic slide and re-start the engines of economic growth,” he said. Cornering the government, he alleged that the people are disappointed on both sides, stating that not just symbolism, ideas and measures are equally important.
“The people are disappointed on both counts. Symbolism is important, but serious thought to ideas and measures is equally important,” he said.
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Another Senior Congress Leader, Shashi Tharoor, Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, expressed unhappiness over Prime Minister’s message as he wrote in a tweet , No vision of the future or sharing the issues he is weighing in deciding about the post-lockdown. Just a feel-good moment curated by India’s Photo-Op PrimeMinister!
Listened to the Pradhan Showman. Nothing about how to ease people’s pain, their burdens, their financial anxieties. No vision of the future or sharing the issues he is weighing in deciding about the post-lockdown. Just a feel-good moment curated by India’s Photo-Op PrimeMinister!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 3, 2020
