‘PM must explain’: Chidambaram targets govt on Covid-19, economy

“PM Modi who promised that we will defeat coronavirus in 21 days must explain why India failed when other countries seem to have succeeded,” Chidambaram said in a tweet.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday criticised the government’s response to coronavirus pandemic in the country as he predicted India’s infection tally may touch the 6.5-million mark by the end of September.

Congress leader P Chidambaram alleged that the country has not been able to reap the benefit of the lockdown strategy.(Ajay Aggarwal/HT PHOTO)

“I had predicted that total number of infections will reach 55 lakh by September 30. I am wrong. India will reach that number by September 20. By end September, the number may touch 65 lakh,” Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

“PM Modi who promised that we will defeat coronavirus in 21 days must explain why India failed when other countries seem to have succeeded,” he added.

India registered the highest single-day jump of 86,432 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s caseload past the 4-million mark, according to the Union health ministry on Saturday. With 1,089 more deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 69,561, it said.

The former Union finance minister also alleged that the country has not been able to reap the benefit of the lockdown strategy.

Chidambaram also hit out at the Union finance ministry for the state of India’s economy. Targeting the Nirmala Sitharaman-led union finance ministry, Chidambaram said, “MoF does not have a word of explanation for the unprecedented negative growth in Q1 of 2020-21. But it is back to its old game of misleading the people of India and predicting a V shaped recovery.”

“The people have not forgotten that the V shaped recovery has been promised by MoF for the last 15 months,” the former finance minister said.