Speaking on the occasion, P Chidambaram expressed concern over the state of the economy and said that God should protect this country.

Chidambaram said this on his birthday last year: Yes, on his birthday last year, Chidambaram had said, "Thank you for conveying my best wishes to me on behalf of my friends, party colleagues and well-wishers. I was reminded that I am 74 years old. I am 74, but from the bottom of my heart, I feel like a 74-year-old man. The former Finance Minister had said that I was as concerned about the economy of the country as before. Only one figure tells the whole story. Export growth declined by 6.05 percent in August last year. Without a 20 percent increase in exports, no country will be able to reach the GDP growth rate of 8 percent. Not only that, he continued and said, "God should protect this country''. When Chidambaram's son Karti remembered him emotionally on the occasion of his birthday, several Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh wished Chidambaram a happy birthday.

Some time ago also, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had lashed out at the Central government over the Pegasus espionage case. Where he said the case is serious and the government should either take action against all these offences by the Joint Parliamentary Committee or appeal for the appointment of a sitting Supreme Court judge to look into it. Chidambaram demanded that PM Modi should make a statement in Parliament and clarify whether the espionage was done or not. Continuing his point, Chidambaram had told the media that action by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology could be more effective than the action of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. On the other hand, when asked if Shashi Tharoor, head of the Parliamentary IT Panel, had said that the case was going to be investigated by his committee and there was no need for JPC. Chidambaram replied that he doubted whether the IT panel with most BJP members could investigate the matter impartially.