Congress’ P Chidambaram attacks Modi govt over resignation of Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Congress’ P Chidambaram attacks Modi govt over resignation of Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal

By | Written by Srivatsan K C | Edited by Avik Roy, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Jul 07, 2021 08:59 PM IST

“The resignations of the Union Health Minister and the MoS Health is a candid confession that the Modi government has utterly failed in managing the pandemic,” Chidambaram said.

Following the resignations of former Union health minister, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram took a swipe at the Modi government for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also pointed to the resignations of the Union education minister and the minister of state, education, and said that the national education policy (NEP) “should be shown the exit door.”

Congress leader P Chidambaram.(PTI)
Congress leader P Chidambaram.(PTI)

Chidambaram made his remarks in a series of tweets during the reshuffle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on the day. Former ministers Harsh Vardhan (health) and Ramesh Pokhriyal (education) had submitted their resignations ahead of the revamp, which were then accepted by the President of India.

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“The resignations of the Union Health Minister and the MoS Health is a candid confession that the Modi government has utterly failed in managing the pandemic,” Chidambaram said.

“There is a lesson for ministers in these resignations. If things go right the credit will go to the PM, if things go wrong the Minister will be the fall guy. That is the price a Minister pays for implicit obedience and unquestioning subservience.”

In a similar comment about Pokhriyal, Chidambaram questioned the NEP and mentioned that the policy was criticised by “states, political parties, educationists, teachers, academics and scholars.” He also said that the “NEP too should be shown the Exit door.”

“We need an NEP that recognises States’ rights, the primacy of science, the importance of liberal arts and the centrality of regional languages. We need an NEP that lays stress on measurable outcomes,” he further tweeted.

Also read | 'Poor Dr Harsh Vardhan': Jairam Ramesh on health minister's resignation

Resignation of Dr Harsh Vardhan, especially among other ministers, garnered many comments from the opposition Congress leaders. Party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala also criticised Modi for “mismanagement of Covid-19.”

“National Disaster Management Authority is responsible for criminal mis-management of #COVID19.

It is headed by the Prime Minister. Will the PM take responsibility for his failures? Or will the PM only make Dr. Harshvardhan the scapegoat for PM’s failures?” Surjewala asked, in a tweet.

Meanwhile, another Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh tweeted “Poor Dr. Harsh Vardhan, a good man has been made a scapegoat for monumental failures at the highest level — nowhere else.”

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Sadananda Gowda and Babul Supriyo were among some of the ministers who resigned before the cabinet reshuffle. As many as 43 new ministers were appointed on Wednesday as members of the Council of Ministers.

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