PUNE: Senior Congress leader and former minister of state for Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the economic slowdown in the country.
He said that the low GDP in the country is the failure of the Union government and the prime minister is not happy with the finance minister’s (FM) performance. Hence, the FM should resign.
Chavan was addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan in the city. He said,”Pre-Budget meetings are being held at PMO and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not being kept in the loop. He said that the finance minister should be replaced if the prime minister is not happy with her work.”
He said, “Traditionally, the pre-Budget meetings are conducted by the Finance Ministry. The entire Budget process happens at the ministry. All these things happen under the guidance of the FM.”
“The pre-Budget meetings are being held at the Prime Minister’s Office and Home Ministry and the meetings with the leading industrialists were held without the finance minister,” the Congress leader said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 13 pre-Budget meetings, in which, several top industrialists were invited. Surprisingly, Nirmala Sitharaman was not invited in any of the meetings,” Chavan said.
“This indicates the PM’s lack of confidence in the performance of the FM. If it is so, she should be removed. She should be asked to resign. This is going to impact badly as it will demoralise the entire Finance Ministry staff as this is unprecedented,” Chavan further said.
“The growth rate has gone down. Even IMF’s prediction for the country’s growth is a worry for the Indian economy,” he added.
24/7 PLAN TO BOOST TRADE & EMPLOYMENT: CHAVAN
- Though the Shiv Sena on Wednesday denied that Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s claim that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had approached the Congress after the 2014 State polls to form a coalition to keep the BJP out of power, Chavan was firm on his statement. “Don’t ask me the names of leaders who were present in the meeting at that time because I cannot disclose it,” he said.
- Commenting on the State government’s decision to keep Mumbai open 24x7, he said, “It has been done on an experimental basis. If it works in Mumbai, it will be implemented in other major cities of the State. The purpose of the decision is to boost employment and trade. However, it should not overburden the police. We have considered all these factors.”
