Charging the finance minister with leaving an off-budget fiscal overhang of Rs 300,000 crore (Rs 3,000 billion), which could wreck the country's economy, Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday demanded resignation of P Chidambaram to escape "dismissal".
"Chidambaram should leave (the government) on his own to avoid being dismissed," Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh said initiating a discussion on the Finance Bill.
Singh warned that the country was heading for the worst kind of food inflation and the off-budget subsidy on fertiliser and petroleum would leave a serious dent on the government finances.
Besides, the burden on account of Sixth Pay Commission for government employees would lead to a situation where inflation would be difficult to manage, the senior BJP leader said.
Giving a break-up of the expenses which Chidambaram has not provided for in the budget, Singh said the fiscal overhang includes bank loan waiver for farmers to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion), extra food and fertiliser subsidy amounting to Rs 60,000 crore, oil bonds in excess of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) and the Pay Commission burden of Rs 30,000 crore (RS 300 billion).
Singh said the budget for 2008-09 suffered from three major hiccups -- complex tax procedures, lack of equity and amending the legislations with retrospective effect.
The Leader of the Opposition said that while a huge amount of Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) was being spent on cricket extravaganza, this money could have been used to build a new cement factory for meeting shortages.
He described the ongoing club cricket matches as "gladiators' contest" of Roman times.
"This is not cricket. This is the greatest divide between the rich and the poor. With that kind of money, you could have built another cement factory," he said.
He was quite critical of the Planning Commission as well which he said needed a relook. He said the Commission has become a "parking ground" for retired bureaucrats or politicians.
Singh, who was the finance minister in the National Democratic Alliance government, said the finance ministry was working with the systems of early 20th century and was not able to manage the economic challenges of the present century.
He said while the Prime Minister himself is a distinguished economist, his government has set up a large number of committees which did not give much input to the government. He cited the report of the Abhijit Sen Committee which, after one year, has not been able to determine whether the futures trading has contributed to inflation or not.
In fact, these committees would be making the job of the finance ministry, which itself is a specialised organ of the government, difficult, Singh claimed.
Singh said the prime minister's advice yesterday to the corporate heads for curtailing lifestyle costs did not carry much conviction since their number was very small.
Charging the government with sidestepping the fiscal responsibilities and budget management act, he said the off-budget expenditure was a "fiscal trap" which would show in the next one or two years.
He said the fertiliser minister had made a demand of Rs 107,000 crore (Rs 1,070 billion) against a budgetary provision of Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) for fertiliser subsidy.
"Where will this money come from?" he asked.
Singh accused the finance minister of being unfair to the private hospitals who have been denied long-term tax holiday.