P Chidambaram echoed O’Brien to woo TMC to ‘… alliance’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman‘s sharp response following a discussion on the economic situation in India saw her take the “light banter” route to highlight how former finance minister and senior Congress member P Chidambaram cited the arguments put forth by TMC member Derek O’Brien during his speech on the economic situation. Without naming the INDIA alliance, she indirectly questioned whether it was Chidambaram’s way to get the TMC to attend the “dot dot dot” alliance.
Responding to the debate in Rajya Sabha, the FM sought the permission of chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar saying, “If you will allow me and indulge me in a light-hearted banter…”
When allowed to do so, Sitharaman said, “It was a bit surprising and a bit uncharacteristic to see the former finance minister (Chidambaram) who is highly educated, was in the prestigious Harvard university… but he wholeheartedly concurred and sort of piggybacked and rode on the arguments provided by Derek O’Brien (TMC). He took his name three or four times… I started thinking whether it was an attempt to placate the All India Trinamool Congress to come and attend the “dot dot dot” alliance because they seem to be all hot and cold.”
Responding to the issues raised by Chidambaram on the economic situation, Sitharaman said, “It was incorrect for the former finance minister to say that the worker population ratio (WPR) hasn’t improved. This is a whimsical calculation by him, resulting in a misinterpretation on his part.”
She shared that the worker population ratio was 42% in 2004-05 which fell to 38.6% in 2011-12 under the UPA regime. “As per the PLFS, WPR, the share of the employed in the total population, had increased to 56% in 2022-23 from 46.8% in 2017-18. This is post-Covid which was a once-in-a-century pandemic.”
The FM further stated that the “youth unemployment rate (between age 15-29 years) has declined to 10% in 2022-23 from 17.8% in 2017-18, while youth LFPR (labour force participation rate) has expanded from 38.2% to 44.5%.”