Appoint new 'Chief Economic Astrologer': P Chidambaram's dig at Nirmala Sitharaman

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called the planets to the rescue of the economy after giving up hope in her own skills and that of her economic advisers.

His swipe at Sitharaman came after she had on Tuesday retweeted images unveiled by NASA from its new powerful space telescope.

"We are not surprised that the Finance Minister tweeted pictures of Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus on the day when Inflation printed at 7.01% and unemployment printed at 7.8%," Chidambaram tweeted.

"After giving up hope in her own skills and the skills of her economic advisers, the FM has called the planets to the rescue of the economy," the former finance minister said.

To begin with, she should appoint a new "CEA: Chief Economic Astrologer", Chidambaram added.

The Congress on Wednesday had hit out at Sitharaman, saying she is more interested in Uranus and Pluto than in steering the country's economy towards recovery.

(With PTI inputs)