Budget Session 2020: P Chidambaram Tears Into President Ram Nath Kovind's Speech, Says 'Government is Clueless' on Economic Slowdown

New Delhi, January 31: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram on Friday tore into President Ram Nath Kovind's address to a joint sitting of Parliament at start of the Budget session. In a series of tweets, P Chidambaram said President Ram Nath Kovind's speech did not have a solution for declining economic growth and was full of "old slogans and old cliches that have lost all meaning in the last few years". Budget Session 2020 of Parliament: President Ram Nath Kovind Mentions CAA, Triple Talaq Bill, Ram Janmabhoomi Verdict and Abrogation of Article 370 From J&K.

"The President’s Address is the first policy statement of the government in the new year. I looked for indications on how the government intended to tackle the grave economic slide. Alas, I found none (sic)," Chidambaram tweeted. "All that we heard was tiresome repetition of old slogans and old cliches that have lost all meaning in the last few years," the former Union Finance Minister added. Budget Session 2020 of Parliament Live News & Updates.

Chidambaram went on to say that President Kovind's speech reflects that the government is "clueless" and has no remedies for "increasing unemployment" and "dwindling investment" among other issues. "Sadly, there was not a word on the macro-economic situation. Not a word on lost jobs, increasing unemployment and rising consumer price inflation. Not a word on the closure of thousands of industries, especially in the SME sector," he wrote.

"The government is clueless, and therefore the President's Address was silent, on dwindling investment and rising number of stalled projects. The future of the manufacturing sector is bleak," Chidambaram wrote in another tweet. Reacting to President Kovind's remarks on abrogation of Article 370 and enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Congress lawmaker said that the Modi government "has learnt nothing".

"The government’s re-statement of its policy on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh shows that it has learnt nothing in the last 6 months and is determined to heap injustice and humiliation on the 75 lakh people in the Kashmir valley," Chidambaram said. "Likewise, the government has obstinately reiterated its hard line position on CAA unmindful of the protests by students, youth and women in every state of India. The government's rejection of the democratic resistance will only intensify the protests," he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2020 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).