Will Finance Minister answer how to describe mismanagement of economy before pandemic: Chidambaram
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her 'Act of God' remarks on the economy, saying will "the FM as the Messenger of God" answer how should the "mismanagement" of the economy before the coronavirus pandemic be described.
Sitharaman on Thursday had said the economy has been hit by the pandemic, which is an 'Act of God', and it will see a contraction in the current fiscal.
Taking a swipe at Sitharaman over the remarks, Chidambaram said, "If the pandemic is an Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Before the pandemic struck India?"
"Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?" the former finance minister asked.
Chidambaram also slammed the Centre for asking states to borrow more to make up for revenue losses due to pending GST dues. He asserted that the two options given by the Modi government to the states to bridge the GST compensation gap are unacceptable.
"Under the first option the states are asked to borrow by pledging their future receivables under Compensation cess. The financial burden falls entirely on the states," Chidambaram said.
"Under the second option, states are asked to borrow from the RBI window. It is more market borrowing, only by a different name. Again, the entire financial burden falls on the states," he said in a series of tweets.
Chidambaram claimed that the central government is absolving itself of any financial responsibility. This is a "gross betrayal" as well as a "direct violation of the law", he alleged.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
