Chidambaram takes jibe at Nirmala Sitharaman over her `half-baked` comment, says `thank god, Dr Manmohan Singh did not…`

`The FM is reported to have said that the 1991 reforms were `half-baked`, Thank God, Dr Manmohan Singh did not serve over-cooked and unpalatable food like Demonetisation, multiple-rates GST and savage taxes on petrol & diesel,` said P. Chidambaram.

New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday (September 16, 2022) criticised Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman over her statement on the 1991 economic reforms. Chidambaram tweeted, "The FM is reported to have said that the 1991 reforms were "half-baked", Thank God, Dr Manmohan Singh did not serve over-cooked and unpalatable food like Demonetisation, multiple-rates GST and savage taxes on petrol & diesel."

"We thank the FM for revealing that she took bakery and cooking courses in University," he added.

According to reports in a section of the media, the Finance Minister during a book release function said that the 1991 reforms were half-baked. The economic reforms were initiated by Manmohan Singh when he was the finance minister during the Narsimaha Rao government at the Centre.

Speaking in Hindi, Sitharaman said, "The economy was liberalised but the opening of the economy was not done properly and was under compulsions. We started with half-baked reforms in 1991."

Chidambaram, a former finance minister, is a bitter critic of the Modi government`s economic policies.