PM gave headline and blank page, so reaction is blank: Chidambaram

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a massive financial package to revive, reform and make the country self-reliant, while at the same time welcoming foreign capital and strengthening of supply chains, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidbambaram said his reaction to the move is "a blank as yesterday PM gave us a headline and a blank page".

"Naturally, my reaction was a blank," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

The former Finance Minister added: "Today, we look forward to the FM filling the blank page. We will carefully count every additional rupee that the government will actually infuse into the economy "We will also carefully examine who gets what? And the first thing we will look for is what the poor, hungry and devastated migrant workers can expect after they have walked hundreds of kilometres to their home states."

Chidambaram said that the Congress will examine "what the bottom half of the population (13 crore families) will get in terms of REAL MONEY".

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday at 8 p.m. talked about new infrastructure and rational tax systems for a quantum leap of growth. Besides, announcing a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore or 10 per cent of the GDP.