Chidambaram, Sitharaman in war of words over ₹2,000 note | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Chidambaram, Sitharaman in war of words over 2,000 note

May 30, 2023 04:45 AM IST

Congressman says Centre’s actions casting doubts on stability of nation’s currency, BJP leader says withdrawal of denomination is RBI’s decision

Mumbai: The denomination of 2,000 has emerged as the pitch for a new battle as both finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former finance minister P Chidambaram traded potshots at each other over its withdrawal from circulation. As it happens, this unfolded on the day the Modi government completed nine years in office at the Centre.

Mumbai, India - May 29, 2023: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and DCM Devendra Fadnavis interact with the media on the completion of nine years of PM Narendra Modi's government, at Worli, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, May 29, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)
Mumbai, India - May 29, 2023: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and DCM Devendra Fadnavis interact with the media on the completion of nine years of PM Narendra Modi's government, at Worli, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, May 29, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

Both Sitaraman and Chidambaram were in the city on Monday and held press conferences. While the former tried to highlight the ‘achievements and successes’ of their government, the latter strove to put forth the ‘failures’ of the Centre.

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The senior Congress leader on Monday said the introduction and withdrawal of 2,000 note has cast doubt on integrity, stability of India’s currency. The BJP leader hit back saying that to cast aspersions on matters of this nature “does not augur well with the former finance minister”.

“The thoughtless — some would even say foolish — introduction of the 2,000 notes, and the mortifying spectacle of withdrawing it have cast a doubt on the stability of India’s currency,” said Chidambaram.

Reacting to Chidambaram’s statement, Sitharaman said, “To cast aspersions on the matters of this nature, currency, decision of the central bank does not augur well with the former finance minister who has been with the ministry.”

Sitharaman refused to link the decision of withdrawal of 2,000 note to Modi government saying it is the RBI which takes decisions on currency and the Opposition leaders’ criticism of the Modi government on this issue has no meaning.

“Former finance minister P Chidamabaram knows well that the RBI takes the decision about the currency. Currency is the sovereign business and RBI takes the decision. Besides that, the life span of currency was also over,” said Sitharaman.

The barbs did not end there with Chidambaram firing another salvo, this time targetting the Centre for the way it has handled the country’s economy. He said that the first three quarters of 2022-23 recorded growth rates of 13.2%, 6.3% and 4.4%, which is a declining trend.

“The present situation is a far cry from the average of 9% growth rate that marked the boom years between 2004 and 2009. The Indian economy is growing modestly at a much-reduced pace facing serious issues of unemployment, inflation, widening inequalities and stumbling welfare programmes,” said Chidambaram.

Talking about the challenge posed by inflation, Sitharaman said that the Central government is monitoring price pressures and will not let the guard down.

“Now, retail inflation has come down to 4.8% and the gross inflation is close to negative. We are continuously monitoring inflation. We are monitoring the prices of food-grains, vegetables, fruits etc from different local markets all over India,” said Sitharaman.

While counting the achievements of the Modi government in the last nine years, Sitharaman said that three years were lost in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues and they had only six years “to work fully”.

She said that the nine years of the Modi government are nine years of ‘seva, sushasan and garib kalyan’ (service, good governance and the welfare of the poor). Chidambaram had a different take on the matter and said that the NDA government has totally failed in the last nine years, he claimed.

Chidambaram said that the united opposition can field one common candidate against the ruling BJP on 400 to 450 seats if all the non-BJP parties come together. He said that the process to bring them together is going on. They are meeting in Patna, Bihar on June 12 for the same.

“Our party’s line is that all the non-BJP parties must get together as far as possible. If they come together then it is possible that on 400 to 450 seats, we can field one common candidate against the BJP but that is still a desire, an aspiration,” he said.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Faisal is with the political team and covers state administration and state politics. He also covers NCP.

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