While the Union government has asserted that it will not cut fuel prices, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has claimed that the "Centre will soon arrest fuel prices", said Chidambaram in a tweet.
The former finance minister reacted after BJP president Amit Shah asked his party leaders to challenge Chidambaram and others from the opposition for an open debate on the government's economic policies based on facts and figures.
"Relentless rise in prices of petrol and diesel is not inevitable. Because the price is built up by excessive taxes on petrol and diesel. If taxes are cut, prices will decline significantly," Chidambaram said on Twitter.
Chidambaram also thanked Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal for endorsing his view that the Q1 GDP growth of 8.2 per cent is largely due to the low base effect (5.6).
“Q1 GDP at 8.2 per cent is a statistic. Rupee at 70 to a dollar is a reality", wrote Chidambaram.
"Going forward, the base effect will not be so favourable. And when we reach Q3 and Q4, the rate of growth may decline and the annual growth rate may be more or less like last year's," he said on Twitter.
He said for the Rs 13,000 crore, which did not come back to the banks, the country lost Rs 2.25 lakh crore worth of GDP, crores of jobs and over a hundred lives.
The report compares growth rates between the old series (2004-05) and the new series based on 2011-12 prices.
The ED has been directed to not take any coercive steps against Chidambaram until the next hearing in the case.
Lok Sabha elections 2019: "It is a booth-wise election ahead, which is why the party needs our people in every booth. We (Congress) must have enough people with feet on every booth," Chidambaram said addressing party members.
Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram were named in a charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case on July 19.
Amid an ongoing tussle with Lt Governor Anil Baijal, the AAP on Wednesday told SC that the Delhi government was paralysed because it could not transfer or post bureaucrats.
The court, which was scheduled to take up the matter for consideration on Wednesday, posted it as the concerned judge was on leave.
"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Dr Arvind Subramanian has decided to leave the government before the end of his term. Dr Arvind Subramanian was either not consulted or his views were brushed aside on many important issues," the former Union Finance Minister said in a tweet.
Chidambaram, who was considered one of the most powerful ministers in the previous UPA government, was questioned by the probe agency for over six hours.
Aircel-Maxis case: Court grants protection to P. Chidambaram from arrest by ED till July 10.
Government expenditure is on only in healthcare and in some other amenities, he said and added that "To keep this expenditure going on, the government has continued taxing petrol, diesel and even LPG. It is squeezing money from people in such taxes and spending some from it on public amenities.
"Thanks to Gujarat elections, GST rates on many items reduced from 28% to 18%. Thanks to Karnataka elections, Petrol/Diesel prices kept constant. So, frequent elections also bring benefits to people! (sic)," he said on Twitter.
While addressing the Youth Congress national executive meeting today, the former finance minister also took on the government over jobs and employment issues.
Special Judge OP Saini reserved the order for later in the day after hearing a battery of senior advocates appearing for Karti, son of former union minister P Chidambaram.
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