‘PM Modi gave us headline and blank page': Chidambaram not sure of Rs 20 lakh crore package

New Delhi, May 13: In a dig the Centre's economic package, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package as a "headline and a blank page", and said he was looking forward to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman filling the bank page.

In a series of tweets this morning, Chidambaram posted "Yesterday, PM gave us a headline and a blank page. Naturally, my reaction was a blank!."

Further, he said, "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."

Yesterday, PM gave us a headline and a blank page. Naturally, my reaction was a blank!

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.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 13, 2020

"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," the congress leader tweeted.

"We will also examine what the bottom half of the population (13 crore families) will get in terms of REAL MONEY," he added.

In a big push to revive the economy, PM Modi on Tuesday announced a Rs 20 lakh crore package, which combined the government's recent announcements on supporting key sectors as also measures rolled out by the Reserve Bank of India.

The combined package works out to roughly 10 per cent of the GDP, making it among the most substantial in the world after the financial packages announced by the United States, which is 13 per cent of its GDP, and by Japan, which is over 21 per cent of its GDP.

However, the Congress termed the address as one that gave the country a headline and said the nation is disappointed by his "failure" to address the woes of millions of migrants.