Former Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, trained his guns at the Narendra Modi administration over the Gross Domestic Product data for April-June 2020 period. As per estimates released by the government, the economy contracted 23.9% in the period which the saw strictest phase of the Covid-induced lockdown. However, economic slowdown was apparent even before the pandemic struck with 3.1% GDP growth witnessed in January-March 2020.Commenting on the contraction, Congress leader Chidambaram said that he wasn't surprised, but the government should be as it was seeing 'green shoots' in the first quarter of the current financial year. He pointed out that since agriculture, forestry and fisheries are the only sectors still growing, incumbent Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should thank farmers and the gods who blessed them. This was a jibe over Sitharaman citing an 'Act of God', i.e. the pandemic, for the shortfall in GST collection which is denting the finances of the state governments. Chidambaram added that the Modi government has no shame and won't admit its mistakes even though the Congress had been advising the Centre to take 'preventive' and 'pre-emptive' action. The former minister predicted that it would take 'many months' before the economy grows again. Watch the full video for more.
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