The Congress today latched on to BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's criticism of Arun Jaitley over the "mess" in the economy as it attacked the government and lauded the former finance minister for speaking out "the truth to the power".
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said what Sinha has stated in an article that Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley have "destroyed" the economy is true, while former finance minister P Chidambaram said the government is "completely clueless" about what is causing the economic decline.
Chidambaram also said that the Congress was not using Sinha's views (politically), except that the BJP leader's statements "coincided" with what the opposition party has been saying for the last many months.
He said the formation of new economic advisory council was like "putting band aid on several broken limbs".
Rahul, who is on a tour of Gujarat, took a dig at Jaitley, saying people should take positions as the "wings have fallen off our plane".
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your copilot and FM speaking. Please fasten your seat belts and take brace position. The wings have fallen off our plane," he tweeted.
"Today, I read an article written by Yashwant Sinha, who is a senior BJP leader. He wrote that Modiji and Jaitleyji have destroyed the Indian economy. This is not my view. This is the opinion of a BJP leader," Rahul said on the third day of his campaign tour of poll-bound Gujarat, Modi's home state.
"He even wrote that though BJP leaders know that our country is in deep trouble, no one is ready to speak up as they are afraid of Modiji," he said.
Asking people to speak out the truth without any fear, Chidambaram said the Indian industry must at least have the courage to speak matters related to economy.
"There is an atmosphere of fear... I am appealing to Indian industry, the doyens of Indian industry to speak up," he said.
Chidambaram said the Congress has played the role of an opposition that India needed, but accused the government of trying to impose its will on the people of India.
The former finance minister asked, "How long will the government hide behind the rhetoric of the prime minister and the slogans of the party?"
He said the July-September quarter will also be bad and the growth will be less than 6 per cent and "that is bad news".
The Congress leader said unless this economy grows at an average of 8 pc it will not create the jobs that are required. "I think this year appears to be bleak year," he predicted.
He said Sinha is absolutely correct when he writes that "Instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game" and Congress is happy that he echoed our criticism and "he is spot on".
The former finance minister said the Congress party has exposed the weaknesses in the economy in the last 18 months and its "terrible mismanagement".
"We were told, in effect, to shut up. We were the first to speak up, we did not shut up and we shall not shut up...The Congress party will continue to speak loudly and boldly on the disastrous path on which the country is being taken by the BJP government," he said.
Targeting the government over high oil prices, Chidambaram accused it of "looting" the people.
"We are happy Yashwant Sinha has spoken truth, echoed our views about economy...he has spoken truth to the power," Chidambaram said.
Responding to a question, Chidambaram said the Congress was not using Sinha's views (politically), and added that the BJP leader's statements only "coincides" with what the opposition party has been saying.
He rued that MPs were afraid of about what they see and hear, particularly in their constituencies. He also asked the industry to speak up on what they think about the economy without any fears.
"It is a sad commentary on our times that MPs are afraid to reflect what they see and hear around them...yet we call ourselves a free country," Chidambaram said.
He asked whether the "power" would now accept the truth. "Yashwant Sinha speaks truth to power. Will power now admit the truth that economy is sinking?," he said on Twitter.
Quoting Sinha, Chidambaram said the truth is that the growth rate of 5.7 per cent is actually 3.7 per cent or less and that "instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game".
"Eternal truth: No matter what power does, ultimately truth will prevail," the Congress leader said.
In a newspaper article, Sinha, who was finance minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, criticised Jaitley over the "mess the finance minister has made of the economy" and said he would be failing in his national duty if he did not speak up.
"Finance ministry, in the best of times, calls for the undivided attention of its boss if the job has to be properly done. In challenging times it becomes more than a 24/7 job. Naturally, even a superman like Jaitley could not do justice to the task," he wrote.
He also said a revival by the time of the next Lok Sabha election was "highly unlikely" and a "hard landing" appeared inevitable.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)