P Chidambaram Dodges Question On Trump, Rahul Gandhi's 'Dead Economy' Remark

Congress MP P Chidambaram on Sunday sidestepped a question about the 'India is a dead economy' remark Donald Trump made in July last year – after the US President announced a 25 per cent 'penalty' tariff on India for buying Russian oil – and which was later echoed by Rahul Gandhi.

Interacting with reporters last evening – after a scathing review of the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman – NDTV asked Chidambaram to respond to that comment, but he declined to do so; he said he lacked the context in which the original remarks were made.

Over eight months ago Trump – who has struggled to fulfil his pre-poll promise of ending Russia's war on Ukraine – hit out at Delhi over its continued purchase of Russian crude oil.

The US, and the western nations, have argued this is tantamount to funding military strikes on Kiev.

India maintained, as it always has, that it will secure its energy supply in the most cost-effective way possible, and turned the spotlight on European nations still doing business with Russia.

Trump responded a 25 per cent 'penalty' tax on Indian imports and this remark: "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care…"

RECAP | Rahul Gandhi Endorses Trump's "Dead Economy" Remark. It Backfires

A day after that Rahul Gandhi concurred; "He is right, everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and Finance Minister. I am glad President Trump stated a fact…" he told reporters.

The remark triggered a political row with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, predictably, ripping into the Leader of the Opposition. That said, a handful of Gandhi's colleagues disagreed; Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla, for example, called Trump's remark "completely wrong".

Gandhi, though, didn't back down.

RECAP | 'Haven't Even Spoken On Tariffs': Rahul Gandhi's 'Dead Economy' Jab

Last month, days before the budget, he flagged the tariffs and the potentially catastrophic effects on small textile businesses. After visiting a clothing factory in Haryana he said on X, "50 per cent US tariffs are badly hurting textile exporters. Job losses, shutdowns... are reality of our 'dead economy'."

50% US tariffs and uncertainty are badly hurting India's textile exporters. Job losses, factory shutdowns and reduced orders are a reality of our ‘Dead Economy'.

Mr. Modi has offered no relief or even spoken about tariffs, even though more than 4.5 crore jobs and lakhs of… pic.twitter.com/5BcG3AZibg

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 23, 2026

The row over the 'dead Indian economy' has been revived, it seems, after Sitharaman presented a budget that lacked immediate relief for millions of middle-class taxpayers and triggered a market crash; the Sensex, open on Sunday because of the budget, finished 1,500 points down.

RECAP |  10 Lakh Crore Wiped Out As Sensex Falls 1,500 Points On Budget Day

Chidambaram, as he does after every union budget, led the Congress' critique of the document and made it clear he was unimpressed. Among his criticisms was a fall in capex, or large-scale investment in infrastructure, as a percentage of GDP, from 3.2 per cent in FY25 to 3.1 per cent.

RECAP | "Fails Economic Strategy Test": P Chidambaram's Budget Report Card

This was after the budget proposed Rs 12.2 lakh crore for capex.

"Even by an accountant's standards, it was a poor account of management of the finances... Revenue receipts short by Rs 78,086 crore... total expenditure short by Rs 1,00,503 crore... revenue expenditure short by Rs 75,168 crore... capex was cut by Rs 1,44,376 crore... not a word was said to explain this..."

Rahul Gandhi was similarly critical; on X he said the budget did not address issues facing India today, including unemployment, farmers' distress, shrinking household savings and dearth of investments.

"A budget that refuses course correction (and is) blind to India's real crises," he said.

In an equally scathing response, the Finance MInister hit back, "With due respects, I don't know what course correction he is referring to. (The) economy and its fundamentals are strong".