P. Chidambaram

Taking on Congress veteran P Chidambaram who welcomed the AAP win as "defeat of bluff and bluster", Mukherjee in a tweet asked the former minister if the state Congress units should shut shop in case the party had decides that others will take on the BJP across states.

Chidambaram said the clarification was sought on four numbers that are on the first page of Budget at a Glance.

Riding on its development agenda, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party was on Tuesday set for a resounding victory in the Delhi assembly elections to retain power for a third term.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's "considerable influence" over people, including the ability to attract voters to polling booths despite poll boycott calls and the potential for channelling energies of public for any cause, has been cited in support of his detention under the PSA.

"If the BJP does not agree with the judgement, let it say so and spell out the corrective measures," he said on Twitter.

The economy, he said, is facing demand constraints and is investment starved. The economy is facing fall in consumption and rising unemployment.

The jibe 'suit boot ki sarkar' (a government of rich and elite classes) had been first used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while targeting the Narendra Modi-led Union government during its first term.

Mufti and Abdullah, besides two political stalwarts from the PDP and its arch-rival National Conference, were booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) by the administration on Thursday, officials in the union territory said.

Speaking after the release of a book, "Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives", he said if one is secular these days their patriotism will be questioned and there will also be people who will, in course of time, question citizenship of others which is a point of danger.

Addressing students at the Shri Ram College of Commerce here, the former finance minister also said that the country was heading towards another "listless" year in terms of economic growth.

The LIC is profitable despite fierce competition from very large insurance companies of the world with deep pockets and it has also increased its first premium share last year by about five per cent, he said.

Chidambaram made the remarks when he was asked by reporters to comment about the higher allocation for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the Union budget.

There is nothing in the Budget that leads one to believe that growth will revive in 2020-21 and the claim of 6 to 6.5 per cent growth next year is "astonishing and even irresponsible", the former finance minister said at a press conference.

"The Police Commissioner of Delhi gets an extension on the day there is a shooting in the presence of a substantial police force. Incomprehensible and reprehensible.

Claiming that the PM and his ministers seem to be cut off from reality, the former finance minister suggested economic issues on which they can speak about in the Delhi elections.

"The language used by Minister Anurag Thakur, BJP MP Parvesh Verma, BJP State President Dilip Ghosh snd BJP Karnataka Minister CT Ravi is appalling.

Greeting the people on the occasion of 71st Republic Day, he said the soul of the Constitution lies in the freedoms guaranteed in part three of the document.

"I had suggested that the PM should select five of the most articulate critics and hold a Q&A session with them. Why doesn't the PM/Government accept the suggestion?

The sliding economy is an even greater threat to the country, the former finance minister said in a series of tweets.

"PM says that CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) is meant to give citizenship, not take it away. Many of us believe that CAA (in conjunction with NPR or NRC) will declare many persons as 'non-citizens' and take away citizenship," the former home minister said.