Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday took a pot shot at P Chidambaram, a day after the Union Minister opted out of the Lok Sabha election.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said: "The (person) who served as the finance minister for seven out of 10 years is not even contesting. He is running away from the contest. He is not willing to face the voting public to give answers as to what his achievements were."
Chidambaram`s decision to not contest was a symbolic one and an important development which reflects the current mindset within Congress, she claimed.
"It is symbolic that the finance minister, who remained so for the major part of (UPA`s) term of 10 years, is not even available for answers. They have no will to fight, they have actually conceded defeat," she added.
On Thursday, Chidambaram opted out of the Lok Sabha election with the party nominating his son Karthi from his constituency Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.
Soon after the announcement, Karti said, "My father has contested nine elections and thought it is time to give way. He is definitely not retiring from politics."
The name of Karthi figured in the list of 50 Congress Lok Sabha candidates.
Sitharaman said that BJP had formed a grand alliance in Tamil Nadu which had scared many leaders in other parties.
Those who criticised NDA`s `India Shining` campaign used to say that a dream team of economists - Dr Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and P Chidamabaram - will bring in a beautiful, inclusive India, Sitharaman said before charging that this very dream team had left the economy in doldrums.
She said that Chidambaram had also been Finance Minister before the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government which had to do a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to raise the country`s growth rate.
She slammed the UPA government for its handling of the economy and blamed the situation where all sectors are facing trouble on the ruling alliance.
She said that led by their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, BJP was now asking questions related to development and the economy.
(With PTI inputs)
