Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday sharpened his attack on the government as he targeted finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, days after the centre revealed the latest inflation data. The former finance minister referred to the tweets shared by Sitharaman that were posted by NASA.
"We are not surprised that the Finance Minister tweeted pictures of Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus on the day when Inflation printed at 7.01% and unemployment printed at 7.8% (sic)," Chidambaram wrote in a tweet. "After giving up hope in her own skills and the skills of her economic advisers, the FM has called the planets to the rescue of the economy. To begin with, she should appoint a new CEA: Chief Economic Astrologer (sic),” he wrote in another post.
On Tuesday, the figures shared by the government revealed that the retail inflation figures eased slightly in June. The June quarter inflation rate stood at 7.28 per cent, 22 basis points less than what the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India had projected in its resolution on June 8.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, the figures shared by the government revealed that the retail inflation figures eased slightly in June. The June quarter inflation rate stood at 7.28 per cent, 22 basis points less than what the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India had projected in its resolution on June 8.
{{/usCountry}}“I see monsoon being favourable to agriculture. Production will be good and rural demand will remain intact. As RBI has estimated, till the start of the second half of the year, both RBI and government will have to be mindful. We will have to be mindful and watchful how the price movement is. I will keep monitoring item by item to rein in prices for anything that goes haywire. This pointed attack on inflation will need to continue,” Sitharaman had said on the same day, HT had reported.
However, Chidambaram’s attack was in reference to her Twitter posts, which were retweets from the account of NASA space agency that had earlier this week released images of far galaxies in a major breakthrough. The infrared pictures - captured by James Webb Telescope - have been called iconic as researchers aim to study more about the universe beyond the Big Bang Theory.
“Such amazing pictures of unseen parts of the ever expanding Universe. The colours and the images are astonishing,” Sitharaman wrote in one of the posts.