P. Chidambaram

P Chidambaram also accused the central government of having abdicated its responsibility and surrendering to corporate profiteering.

In another tweet, Congress leader P Chidambaram took a swipe at the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in India

He also asked the government to provide funds to ramp up vaccine production and increase supplies as well as to authorise the use of more approved vaccines and allow their import.

Special Judge M K Nagpal granted relief to the Chidambarams after an application in this regard was moved by their lawyer, saying the accused were busy in assembly election campaign in Tamil Nadu.

Special Judge M K Nagpal issued summons against the senior Congress leader, his son and others directing them to appear before court on April 7.

India abstained from voting on the Resolution on Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council. This is a gross betrayal of the Tamil people and their unanimous sentiment and desire, Chidambaram said on Twitter.

"The reward to the farm sector for growing at 3.9% in a recession year is to treat the protesting farmers as if they were enemies of the state," the Congress leader said in a tweet in Hindi.

"The farmers are voters. So are migrant workers, MSMEs, the unemployed and the very poor families. When it is their turn, they will vote against the BJP like the Punjab voters.

Outrightly rejecting the budget for 2021-22, the senior Congress leader also lashed out at the ruling dispensation, charging it with "incompetent economic management".

Chidambaram claimed that the budget for 2021-22 has failed as even a small amount of cash transfer has not been given to the poor and the rations are not being continued with.

At a press conference, former finance minister P Chidambaram also demanded that the government should make direct cash transfers to 20-30 per cent of the families at the bottom of the economy at least for a period of six months.

Nine rounds of talks have taken place between the government and agitating farmer unions without any concrete resolution, while the tenth round is scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

The fault lies with the government because it will not agree to get rid of the disputed laws, the former Union minister said.

Situation in the MSME sector is quite terrible, Chidambaram said adding the government should consider giving loans to micro and small businesses at concessional rates so that they survive.

P Chidambaram was on a roll, going on to tweet a series of posts in Hindi on BJP-led Uttar Pradesh’s new ‘Love Jihad’ laws, saying the state’s “creativity” deserves “Nobel Prizes for Literature (fiction) and for Peace”.

Talking about the Bihar assembly election result, former union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said he feels that his party contested more seats than its organisational strength.

Counting of votes for the three-phase Bihar assembly polls, will be held on November 10. Most of the exit polls on November 7 predicted RJD to again emerge as the single largest party.

On the last day of campaigning for the third phase of the Bihar polls, Nitish Kumar stunned his audience with his remark that the assembly elections under way in the state were his last.

"After mocking the RJD for promising to create 10 lakh jobs, the NDA has promised to create 19 lakh jobs in Bihar if elected,” P Chidambaram tweeted.

"Is it not intriguing that @DasShaktikanta, the SEBI Chairman and the DEA Secretary should speak on the same day on the same subject?" the former finance minister said. All three have tried to "talk up" the economy, Chidambaram said.