Chidambaram's criticism of asset monetisation is hypocrisy: Maha BJP

BJP MLA from Maharashtra Atul Bhatkhalkar on Friday described senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's criticism of the Union government's asset monetisation program as ''hypocritical''.

"Chidambaram, as finance minister, was very much part of then prime minister Manmohan Singh's policy to lease out airports like Mumbai and New Delhi,'' the MLA from Mumbai told reporters here.

''Now, he is opposing the same policies of the Narendra Modi government, exposing his and Congress party's hypocrisy,'' Bhatkhalkar said.

''The policy document on leasing out major airports dates back to the Singh government,'' he further claimed.

The BJP MLA also claimed that the Maharashtra government, of which Congress is part, has given toll collection and maintenance contract for the Mumbai-Pune expressway to a private firm ''for Rs 8,000 crore''.

Maharashtra's GST collection in August dropped by Rs 3,728 crore as compared to the previous month even as other states are reporting growth, Bhatkhalkar said.

"When Fadnavis was chief minister, Maharashtra ranked fifth in the ease of doing business, but now it has slipped to the 13th position. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is scaring people by talking about a third wave or lockdown which is affecting the economic growth,'' he claimed.