Cry, my beloved country: PC on plight of poor amid lockdown

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending the lockdown but came down hard on him for not announcing an economic package for the poor.

In a series of tweets after Modi’s announcement on Tuesday (April 14), the former finance minister said the poor had been left to fend for themselves for another 19 days.

Expressing disappointment over the prime minister’s address, Chidambaram asked what was new in his video message beyond lockdown. “Cry, my beloved country,” he tweeted condemning the government’s alleged negligence of the wretched.

The poor have been left to fend for themselves for 21+19 days, including practically soliciting food. There is money, there is food, but the government will not release either money or food.

Cry, my beloved country.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 14, 2020

He also said that the chief ministers are demanding money from the Centre to fight the crisis but the Prime Minister didn’t address that issue. He noted that the advice of experts like former RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee , Jean Dreze and Prabhat Patnaik have “fallen on deaf years”.

CMs’ demand for money elicited no response. Not a rupee has been added to the miserly package of March 25, 2020

From Raghuram Rajan to Jean Dreze, from Prabhat Patnaik to Abhijit Banerji, their advice has fallen on deaf years.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 14, 2020

Other Congress leaders too hit back at PM’s speech as the party termed it as “rhetoric and hollow”.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said PM’s address was like “Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark”.

(With inputs from agencies)