If Modi govt stands tall, its because of UPA govt, says Chidambaram

New Delhi, June 26: Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Monday hit out at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying that she has highlighted five achievements of the Modi government, of which three are not true and that if the central government stands tall in some areas, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of the UPA government.

In a tweet, Chidambaram, a former Union Finance Minister, said, "The Finance Minister has penned an article on the achievements of the Modi government. Many examples she has cited are true as would be true of every government that has ruled for 5 or 10 years. The FM has cited 5 examples of the Opposition taking the government to Court and losing the case."

"She is wrong at least in three: The Supreme Court had declared triple talaq illegal even before Parliament passed a law. The Article 370 case has not yet been heard by the Court. Numerous cases under the GST laws are pending," Chidambaram said.

The Congress leader further said that the Finance Minister claims credit for India achieving top ranks in production of milk, honey and fruit and vegetables. 

"These ranks were achieved years ago and we retain those ranks. The FM claims credit for Direct Benefit Transfer. She forgets that Aadhaar was conceived, created and rolled out by the UPA government and the first transfers under DBT were done by the UPA government. The Finance Minister boasts about the 11.72 crore toilets built. She should read her own government's reports on how many of them are unused and unusable because they lack water," he said.

"Every government will have achievements to its credit. So does the Modi government. If the Modi government stands tall in some areas, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of the UPA government," Chidambaram said.

The Congress has been critical of the government on several issues and has been highlighting the failures of the government which includes faulty implementation of GST, demonetisation and unemployment at 40-year.high among others. Chidambaram even has questioned the government on several policy related issues.