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Screeching hypocrisy and economic illiteracy: BJP slams Chidambaram

BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya responded to the critique by saying, "Your screeching hypocrisy and economic illiteracy would be comical if they weren't so dangerously delusional."

He added, "Mr Chidambaram, of all people, lecturing on governance? The architect of the 'Fragile Five' disaster—who left India's economy gasping for breath, the currency in freefall, and corruption metastasizing like cancer — now has the audacity to critique Modi's transformative decade? Spare us the sanctimony." Malviya said that Chidambaram's "laughable attempt" to twist the Economic Survey into a "powerful indictment" of the Modi government is either a masterclass in delusion or a shameless display of partisan hackery.

"Let's dismantle your balderdash piece by piece. As for the CEA's 'get out of the way' mantra -- this has been Modi's playbook since 2014. GST streamlined taxation, insolvency laws cleaned up corporate rot, and PLI schemes turbocharged manufacturing," the BJP leader said.

The Survey explicitly praises the government's strong Ease of Doing Business scores as direct results of Modi's reforms, Malviya said.

"Your faux praise for deregulation reeks of hypocrisy. Where was your applause when Prime Minister Modi scrapped 1,500 obsolete laws or when India jumped 79 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2014?" he asked Chidambaram.

"The Survey's call for deregulation isn’t a rebuke -- it's a continuation of this government's agenda. It highlights successes like AC manufacturing indigenization and urges more pro-growth policies -- hardly an 'indictment'. Your crocodile tears over bureaucratic bloat are laughable when Modi's governance has slashed red tape, not expanded it," Malviya said, slamming Chidambaram.

He said Chidambaram's entire argument collapses under the weight of its dishonesty.

The Survey isn't a critique, it's a blueprint for building on Modi's reforms, he asserted.

"To claim otherwise insults the intelligence of every Indian who has witnessed a decade of transformative growth. Crawl back to your echo chamber—reality has no patience for your lies," the BJP leader said on X.

Powerful Indictment of Modi govt, says Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram has said Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran's preface to the latest Economic Survey was a "powerful indictment" of the Narendra Modi government and its policies.

The former Union finance minister said nobody trusts this government and its "weaponised agencies."

In a series of posts on X, after the Economic Survey was tabled in Parliament, Chidambaram said he was delighted to read the preface to the Economic Survey 2024-25 written by the CEA.

"After the introductory 10 paras that refer to the difficulties faced by U.S. and Europe, the next 10 paras describe the state of the Indian economy. They are a powerful indictment of the government led by Mr Narendra Modi and the policies pursued so far," he said.

Reading these 10 paragraphs one will know what was wrong with the government during the last 10 years and what needs to be done, Chidambaram said.

"His (Nageswaran) advice to the government to 'Get out of the way' is the most sensible piece of advice that I have heard from any government official in the last 10 years," Chidambaram said.

"The CEA has given more pointed advice. Among them are -- give entrepreneurs and households back their time and mental bandwidth; roll back regulation significantly; stop micromanaging economic activity," he added.

The former finance minister said the most significant piece of advice is changing the operating principle of regulations from 'guilty until proven innocent' to 'innocent until proven guilty'.

"The final advice given by the CEA is the most timely and powerful -- 'Wiping out the trust deficit in the country is imperative and government agencies have to set the agenda in this regard'," he said.

"Nobody trusts this government and its weaponised agencies -- not business, not academics, not professionals, not farmers, not workers, not teachers, not students, not the middle class, and not the poor. Congratulations, Mr CEA! And thank you Honourable Finance Minister for letting the CEA speak his mind frankly," the Congress leader said.

CEA on working hours

CEA: Market forces can enhance education quality

Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran says, "The value of trade affected by new import restrictions has surged from $170 billion in 2014- 2015 to over $1.3 trillion today, highlighting a shift towards strategic competition in global trade...Market forces can enhance education quality while expanding irrigation and land pooling could unlock 1% growth in agriculture. Public transport must also play a key role in the energy transition..."

CEA on India's rise in global services

Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran says, "One of the outcomes of the globalisation era was also the rise of China as a manufacturing power. India also rose as a power in global services... The presence of China is pervasive and dominant. Manufacturing as a share of world gross output, China's share will probably be higher than the combined share of the next ten countries. It gives them a lot of strategic levers and advantages in several areas as we will see later in some other dimensions as well. This is an important development along with globalization in the last 40 years...."

'In terms of infra, India has done well': CEA

Chief Economic Advisor, Dr V Anantha Nageswaran says, "In terms of infra, India has done well. New trains, airports, reduced turnaround time at ports. Expansion in telecom, power sector capacity addition, decreasing data costs..."

India’s school education system serves 24.8 crore students across 14.72 lakh schools: Economic Survey 2024-25

Chidambaram's take on CEA's advice

Chidambaram lauds CEA's advice to government

Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram wrote on X, "I was delighted to read the preface to the Economic Survey 2024-25 written by the Chief Economic Adviser. After the introductory 10 paras that refer to the difficulties faced by U.S. and Europe, the next 10 paras describe the state of the Indian economy. They are a powerful indictment of the government led by Mr Narendra Modi and the policies pursued so far.

"Just read these 10 paragraphs and you will know what was wrong with the government during the last 10 years and what needs to be done His advice to the government to "Get out of the way" is the most sensible piece of advice that I have heard from any government official in the last 10 years."

Highlights of Economic Survey 2024-25

Here are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2024-25

Indian economy to grow at 6.3-6.8 per cent in FY26, against 6.4 per cent in FY25

India's economic fundamentals robust, backed by calibrated fiscal consolidation, stable consumption

Navigating global headwinds will require strategic, prudent policy management and reinforcing the domestic fundamentals

Risks to inflation remain on account of significant global political, economic uncertainties

Investment activity expected to pick up, supported by higher public capex and improving business expectations

India needs to improve its global competitiveness through grassroots-level structural reforms

Forex at USD 640.3 billion, sufficient to cover 10.9 months of imports and 90 per cent of external debt

Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) 2.0 should be a state government-led initiative focused on fixing the root causes behind the unease of doing business

India should redouble its efforts to boost exports and attract investment. One way to do this is to benchmark ourselves to the rest of the world rather than our past.

India needs a continued step-up of infrastructure investment over the next two decades for high growth

Only few states like Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are able to cash on their high dependence on industrial sector to generate reasonable levels of incomes for their people

Service oriented Indian economy vulnerable to automation, impact of AI is magnified for India given its size and its relatively low per capita income

Corporate sector has to display a high degree of social responsibility

Reserach to increase pulses, oilseeds, tomato, onion production needed to develop climate-resilient crop varieties, enhancing yield and reducing crop damage

India needs to grow by 8 per cent on average for about a decade or two to become a developed nation by 2047

Investments need to grow at 35 per cent, up from 31 per cent, to achieve required growth

Focus of reforms, economic policy must now be on systematic deregulation

Need to develop the manufacturing sector further and invest in emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and biotechnology