Resmi Sivaram

Veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was released on bail on Wednesday by the Supreme Court, made a vigorous return to Parliament on Thursday with a stinging attack on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Chidambaram, who has handled the finance and interior ministries in Congress governments, was responding with other opposition members in the Rajya Sabha against Sitharaman’s statement in the House the previous day that her family does not eat onions. She made the comment as the House discussed the prices of the food item that every family considers essential.

“The finance minister said yesterday that she doesn’t eat onions, so what does she eat? Does she eat avocado,” Chidambaram derided.

Lok Sabha member Karti Chidambaram, his son, called her “our own Marie Antoinette.” Antoinette, wife France’s King Louis XVI, who when told that their subjects had no bread, infamously said, “Let them eat cake.” Chidambaram, interacting with the media at the Congress headquarters later, said: “I was not sarcastic, I was quoting her. They should have planned in advance, what is the point of importing (onion) now, when will they arrive.

“But if the finance minister says I don’t eat onions, that shows the mindset of this government.” Another union minister, meanwhile, drew flak on Thursday, for another casual comment on onion prices. “I’m a vegetarian, I’ve never tasted onions,” said Ashwini Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

“I am a vegetarian. I have never tasted an onion. So, how will a person like me know about the situation (market prices) of onions,” Choubey said.

On Sitharaman’s comment in the Lok Sabha, he said: “When did she say that... she never said that. See Nirmala Sitharman-ji was asked about onions and she gave a good answer about what the government is doing to help people.” At his press meet, Chidambaram tore into the government’s economic lapses left and right. “The prime minister has been unusually silent on the economy,” he said. “He has left it to his ministers to indulge in bluff and bluster. The net result, as the Economist put it, is that the government has turned out to be an ‘incompetent manager’ of the economy.” “Government is calling the present slowdown ‘cyclical’. Thank god they have not called it ‘seasonal’. It is ‘structural’ and the government has no solutions or reforms that would address the structural problems.” He also called the government “wrong, stubborn and mulish” in defending “catastrophic” mistakes. “The government is making mistakes.

It is wrong. Let me repeat, the government is wrong and they are wrong because they are clueless.

“Nothing sums up the state of the economy better than the following series of numbers: 8, 7, 6.6, 5.8, 5 and 4.5. Those are the quarterly growth rates of GDP in the last six quarters.” Chidambaram, an ailing veteran at 74, claimed he is now “stronger in spirit and body” after 106 days of custody.

“My neck is stronger, my spine is stronger, my head is stronger after sleeping on a wooden board (in jail).” On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Chidambaram said he is concernced about the political leaders who have been detained without charges. “Freedom is indivisible and they must fight for their freedom,” he said. “As I stepped out and breathed the air of freedom at 8.00pm last night, my first thought and prayers were for the 75 lakh people of the Kashmir Valley who have been denied their basic freedoms since August 4, 2019,” Chidambaram said.

He said he would like to visit Jammu and Kashmir if the government allows him to do so.

On Wednesday, the top court criticised the Delhi High Court for making observations on the merits of the case and noted that the “triple test” was found in the politician’s favour — that he was not absconding, not tampering with evidence and was cooperating with investigators.

The bench headed by Justice R Bhanumathi imposed certain restrictions on Chidambaram. “Gravity of an offence is required to be kept in mind. The gravity of an offence is to be gathered from the facts and circumstances of each case,” said Justice Bopanna.

The bench said Chidambaram needs to co-operate with the investigation.