Disappointed, not surprised at CEA quitting: Chidambaram
New Delhi, June 20 : Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Wednesday expressed disappointment over Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian's resignation, noting his views were brushed aside on many important issues including GST rates and he was not consulted before demonetisation.
"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Dr Arvind Subramanian has decided to leave the government before the end of his term. Dr Arvind Subramanian was either not consulted or his views were brushed aside on many important issues," the former Union Finance Minister said in a tweet.
"It is no longer a secret that the CEA was not consulted before demonetisation. The CEA's views on GST rates and his report on the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) were rudely brushed aside and, as a result, we have an animal that is not GST," he added.
Chidambaram also said: "I am sure that with age on his side, Dr Arvind Subramanian will return to serve under a future government.I thank Dr Arvind Subramanian for describing the UPA years of 2005-2010 as the 'boom period' of the Indian economy."
Subramanian's term would not be extended any further as he wants to go back to the US due to family commitments, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
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“Union Min. HDK has collected crores of rupees for bypolls,” alleges Cheluvarayaswamy
Mandya: Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy has accused Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy of collecting crores of rupees from various companies for the bypolls of three assembly constituencies of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Addressing press persons on Monday, he stated that the JD(S)-BJP alliance has poured large amounts of funds into the bypolls of three constituencies in the state. “We could not compete against them, money alone cannot make anyone win. People will bless owing to our pro-people programs,” he added.
He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party through its ‘operation lotus’ has been attempting to poach Congress legislators since the formation of the government in 2023. He further said, “Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders keep saying that the government will fall, what other proof is required to determine that Operation lotus is being conducted.”
“Everyone is aware that operation lotus cannot run without money. They have lured our MLAs with money. However, our legislators have ignored such attempts. We will provide adequate proof about the amount of money and the legislators they tried to poach at the right time. Let them (BJP-JDS) prove allegations against us (Congress) first,” said the Minister responding to a reporter’s question.
Cheluvarayaswamy also refuted claims of scandal and cited them as ‘baseless.’ He further said, “Everything is under investigation. Ask them to prove their allegations first. It is just an illusion that the state government will fall owing to the scams.”
