Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday said it was heartening that persons who were in key posts in the government were “shedding their fear and breaking silence” on important policies and decisions.
His reaction came a day after Lieutenant General D.S. Hooda (retired), who was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 29, 2016 across the Line of Control, said there was “too much hype” over the operation and it was politicised.
‘One after another’
In a series of tweets, Mr. Chidambaram said it was former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian who first broke his silence by terming demonetisation a “massive monetary shock”. After Mr. Subramanian, the recently-retired Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said demonetisation had no impact on the use of black money in elections, Mr. Chidambaram said.
Now, it was Lt. Gen. Hooda, who “decried the hype over the so-called ‘surgical strike’ and its politicisation by government,” Mr. Chidambaram said, adding, “Glad to see important persons shedding their fear and breaking their silence.”
Last month, Mr. Subramanian raised concerns related to note ban. Six months after resigning as CEA, he termed demonetisation a “massive, draconian, monetary shock”.
Mr. Rawat said the note ban did not reduce the misuse of black money in elections but in fact in some States more seizures were reported.