Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram celebrated his 74th birthday at the Tihar jail today. Ironically, the Congress leader, who is now lodged in Tihar jail since September 5 by a Delhi court in connection with his involvement in INX Media case expressed his concerns over the state of Indian economy.
In a series of tweets, P Chidambaram, who is an accused in several multi-crore scams, said that he has asked his family to tweet a message on his behalf. The message read, “My family have brought me greetings from friends, party colleagues and well-wishers. I am reminded that I am 74 years old. Indeed I am but at heart I feel 74 years young. Thank you all, my spirits have been lifted higher.”
My thoughts today are about the economy. Just one statistic tells the story. Export growth in August was -6.05%.
No country has achieved GDP growth of 8% without exports growing at 20% a year.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) September 16, 2019
“May God bless this country,” tweeted P Chidambaram.
May God bless this country.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) September 16, 2019
This is not the first time Chidambaram has tried to show that he is worried about the economy, not about himself being in jail. Earlier, he had taken a jibe the government after the GDP growth rate fell to 5%.
Earlier in the day, Karti Chidambaram wrote a two-page letter on Chidambaram on his 74th birthday. “Your birthday is not the same without you with us. We miss you, and your absence tugs at our hearts, and we wish you were back home to cut the cake with us. But of course, in today’s day and age, turning 74 is nothing compared to turning 100 days old,” Karti said in the letter.
Chidambaram is currently held under judicial custody in Tihar Jail for his alleged role of misusing his cabinet position to grant several clearances to the INX Media house while he was the finance minister in the UPA era. Chidambaram had earlier gone on great lengths to first evade the CBI arrest and then desperately try to skirt his judicial custody in Tihar Jail. P Chidambaram had earlier sought protection from arrest by the ED but the Supreme Court had then turned down his anticipatory bail application.
