India / All decisions in the govt are taken by PM Modi it did not matter who the minister: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday took a dig at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, saying he must raise the volume of his microphone and other union ministers must un-mute themselves.

He alleged that all decisions in the government are taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it did not matter who the union minister was.

"I think, only Mr Gadkari has the courage to raise his voice occasionally, but, even he is very muted today, he should un-mute himself," Chidambaram told reporters.

The Congress leader was replying to a question on the recent cabinet expansion.

"Everybody in this country knows that all decisions are taken by the prime minister, Mr Narendra Modi, so what does it matter if 'X' is finance minister or 'Y' is finance minister," he said.

Chidambaram said that as far as Prime Minister Modi is concerned, "he is the finance minister, he is the defence minister, he is the external affairs minister, he is the minister of sports, he is everything, so this is completely inconsequential who is the minister."

On Gadkari's recent comments on inflation, Chidambaram said, "Which is why I mentioned his name, but, he should speak more."

"He should speak in the cabinet. He should increase the volume of his microphone and others must un-mute their microphone. They are all muted now," the Congress leader said.