New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram – one of the was scathing in his attack on the Union budget today, questioning what data the BJP had to back their claims. Most of the claims made while presenting the budget, he said, were “as vague as vague can be”, and as example, cited the government’s scheme for jobs and apprenticeship for first-time workers.  

The government has promised to provide internships in top companies for the young people in the country and claimed that the scheme will benefit 210 lakh youths. It is meant for all persons entering the workforce in all sectors, Ms Sitharaman said while presenting Budget 2024 in parliament.

 “Our government will launch a scheme to provide internship opportunities in 500 top companies to one  crore youth. They will get exposure to business and employment opportunities. Internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month and one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 will be provided. Companies will be expected to bear the expenses of the training cost and 10% of their internship cost from their CSR funds,” Ms Sitharaman while presenting the Union budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha earlier today.

Besides, the government has promised to pay a month’s salary to first-time workers across all sectors – Rs 15,000 in three tranches as Direct Benefit Transfer.

But Mr Chidambaram had more questions.

“How many companies have you contacted? What kind of companies are they? Are they large farms or MSMes? There is no indication… You must have done some studies before making these announcements,” he said.  

The government, he alleged, is just tossing figures — 210 lakh, 30 lakh, 50 lakh. “There is no basic data which shows how many enterprises, firms, industries and schemes have been brought in. There is no credible data,” he added.

While the Congress has accused the government of plagiarizing, pointing out that the scheme was part of their poll promise, Mr Chidambaram declared that he was “happy” about it.  

It is a good idea, irrespective of who came up with it, he said. Then, in a jab, added, “They realised why they suffered such a setback (in the Lok Sabha) election. Glad they recognised that they had to respond to the question of unemployment. Glad they realised that they took wrong decisions which have to be corrected”.

Chennai:

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday claimed that the Centre bypassed the Law Commission in enacting the three new criminal laws that came into effect from July 1.

The Law Commission, comprising of retired judges, legal experts, professors, and permanent legal staff, would normally hold consultations with bar council members, and advocate associations and prepare a draft to be presented in the Parliament, he said.

But the Law Commission was bypassed and five or six “part-timers” were appointed for a panel, he said on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.

“The laws were not referred to the Law Commission nor was it consulted. This is wrong,” Mr Chidambaram said while speaking at a protest organised here by the DMK advocate wing against the new laws.

“World over, the death penalty has been abolished. But, here solitary confinement was included as a punishment, which is an unusual and cruel punishment as per the Constitution,” he said.

Such a punishment was not prevailing anywhere in the world, the former Union Minister added.

“Similarly, life sentence and life sentence to the remainder of life have been included. What is the difference?” he asked.

Further, Mr Chidambram said that he has been insisting upon a debate on the new laws for several months but the government has not agreed it was not prepared for it.

He reiterated that 90-99 per cent of the new laws were cut, copy and paste work. The government could have instead brought a few amendments.

“I did not say there should be no reforms. … they should have brought an amendment. They changed only the section numbers. Advocates, judges and police should now read again,” the Congress leader said.

For instance, even a child or a newly recruited police constable would know that section 302 referred to murder but now this number has been changed, adding to the confusion, he claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

The Congress on Saturday rejected the ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea, calling it an assault on the Constitution and federalism.

Addressing a briefing on the deliberations of the first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) here, party leader P Chidambaram said the BJP does not have the numbers to pass the required constitutional amendments for holding simultaneous polls.

“One Nation, One Election is an assault on the Constitution… it is an attack on federalism,” he said when asked about the issue.

It will require at least five constitutional amendments and the BJP knows that it does not have the numbers to pass these, the senior Congress leader said.

“Yet, if it (BJP) puts forward this mirage of ‘One Nation, One Election’ it is only to divert attention from the pressing issues and to create a false narrative. We reject this ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea,” P Chidambaram said.

His remarks come days after the government set up an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

The committee will be headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind and will have Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former finance commission chairman N K Singh as members.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had later declined to be part of the panel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday hit out at the BJP over the ‘One Nation, One Election’ move, alleging that like every other issue “sponsored by the BJP”, this seems to be “pre-determined and pre-packaged”.

His attack came after the government notified an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

The committee will be headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind and will have Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former finance commission chairman NK Singh as members.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Chidambaram said, “The question of One Nation, One Election is a political-legal question. Actually, it is more political than legal. Whether the question deserves to be considered at this stage is highly debatable,” the former Union minister said.

“All major political parties are stakeholders in this issue and they have not been consulted in forming the 8 member committee. The 8-member committee has just one member from a major Opposition political party,” he said.

“Besides, I am able to recognise only one acknowledged constitutional lawyer in the committee,” Mr Chidambaram said.

Like every other “issue sponsored by the BJP”, the issue of ‘one nation, one election’ seems to be a “pre-determined and pre-packaged” issue, he alleged.

The notification said the panel will commence functioning immediately and make recommendations “at the earliest”, but did not specify a timeframe to submit the report.

The opposition alliance had slammed the decision announced on Friday to form a committee under Ram Nath Kovind as a “threat” to the country’s federal structure.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)