August 27, 2013.
Statement of Dr. Subramanian Swamy,
former Union Minister for Commerce,
Law & Justice.
With the rupee sliding every day, the latest being to Rs.66/- per dollar, it has now become clear that the present Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram must take the responsibility for the fiasco and submit his resignation. If he fails to do so, the President should be informed by the Prime Minister that Mr. Chidambaram no more enjoys his confidence and therefore he must be sacked from the Union Cabinet.
Mr. Chidambaram’s tenure as Finance Minister in 1996-98, 2004-8 and in the present from 2012 have all been marked by major failures and for his culpability in the corruption in the system.
The Amnesty Scheme, the Participatory Notes his counter-productive taxation policy, and reckless squandering of resources, are primarily responsible for the economic crisis. Hence his blaming Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as Finance Minister since 2008 for the present runaway currency devaluation is absurd and grossly disloyal to the concept of collective responsibility.
There are, however, concrete measures that can stabilize the economy, but Mr. Chidambaram’s propensity, along with his son, to corrupt the system makes it impossible for him to implement any of these concrete measures. Besides being ignorant of economics, his legal knowledge has only enabled him to be a con-artist with the media.
I therefore demand that the Prime Minister calls for Mr. Chidambaram’s resignation, or alternatively recommend his sacking to the President. If the Prime Minister fails to do so, it will mean s that he is a party in the present plunder of the Indian economy and hence equally culpable.