Has Modi forgotten he is Prime Minister: Chidambaram on Gujarat polls

The Congress leader today hit out at the prime minister and said the elections were not about "Mr Modi, the individual" but the promised "achhe din" that had not arrived even after 42 months.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram (File Photo | AFP)
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram (File Photo | AFP)

NEW DELHI: Former finance minister P Chidambaram slammed PM Modi over the missing “achche din” he had promised in 2014 while saying the premier had no answers to problems like joblessness, lack of investment, collapse of SMEs, stagnant exports and price rise.

“The Gujarat election is not about Mr Modi, the individual. It is about the promised achche din that has not come in 42 months. Why does PM not talk about joblessness, lack of investment, collapse of SMEs, stagnant exports and price rise? Because he has no answers to the hard reality,” Chidambaram tweeted referring to Modi’s 2014 national polls campaign promising “achche din” if he was voted to power.

The Congress attack came a day after PM Modi lashed out at the opposition party and the Gandhi’s and presented himself as a son of the soil being targeted by an elitist political class.

“Mr Modi's campaign is about himself, his past and the alleged disdain of Gujarat and Gujaratis. Has he forgotten he is Prime Minister of India,” Chidambaram chided the premier in another tweet.

Targeting PM Modi over his attempts to appropriate the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, who belonged to Gujarat and are national icons, the former finance minister reminded the saffron party that India’s first home minister had rejected the ideology of BJP’s mentor RSS.

“PM and BJP may now desperately embrace Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, but the redoubtable Sardar had rejected the BJP's parent RSS and its divisive ideology. Mr Modi has forgotten that Gandhiji was an Indian and son of Gujarat; Gandhiji was, and is, revered as Father of the Nation; and Gandhiji's chosen instrument to lead the freedom struggle was the Congress party,” Chidambaram further tweeted.

Taking a dig at the PM, who accused the Congress of having neglected Gujarat on Monday, senior leader Shashi Tharoor said it was disturbing why the BJP had not taken any action against party lawmaker who suggested replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s statues with that of his assassin Nathuram Godse.

“It’s disturbing to see legitimate political criticism of the Prime Minister being equated to insulting his state. Whereas the BJP MPs who wanted Mahatma Gandhi’s statues replaced by Godse’s have not been expelled for insulting either the state or the nation,” Tharoor tweeted.

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