P Chidambaram belittled middle-class: Narendra Modi

Needling P Chidambaram in his home turf, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dubbed the Congress leader as “recounting minister” who thinks all the knowledge in the world rests only with him and deals issues with arrogance. He also accused Chidambaram of “belittling the middle class” during his tenure as Union Finance Minister during the UPA rule.

Addressing a public meeting in Tiruppur, 465 km from here in the Kongu belt, Modi targeted Chidambaram and his son saying after family packages in mobile recharge people are queuing up before courts for “family bail package” – the father-son duo are fighting a slew of court cases and appearing before investigating agencies.

“…He is the recounting minister -- the man who thinks all the knowledge in the world resides only with him. In his typical arrogance, he asked why the middle class is worried about price rise because they were eating expensive ice creams and mineral water. Mr recounting minister, middle class don’t not need the taunt by you and the Congress. They have rejected you and will continue to reject you,” Modi said.

“Recounting minister” is a term coined by Opposition parties to taunt Chidambaram, who won the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in 2009 by a slender margin after recounting of votes polled. Modi’s attack against Chidambaram is significant since he devoted a few minutes of speech to target the Congress leader who has been at the forefront in criticising the NDA Government on economic issues.

The Prime Minister also invoked veteran Congress leader K Kamaraj who stressed on a “corruption-free” administration and saint Thiruvalluvar to take a dig at the Congress.

Chidambaram Responds

In his response, Chidambaram invoked another couplet of Thiruvalluvar which is loosely translated into “whatever you hear from whosoever, look for the truth behind those words" in English.

“Thiruvalluvar must have written that couplet knowing there will be rulers like the present ones,” Chidambaram said in his response.