BackModi, Chidambaram exchange barbs
Chidambaram calls Modi an 'encounter minister'
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Ramanathapuram: Sharpening his attack on P. Chidambaram, BJP leader Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged wristwatches with photos of the finance minister were being distributed to voters and demanded a probe by the Election Commission.
“In Tamil Nadu, there is a Congress leader—recounting Minister—he is so afraid that he ran away from elections," Modi said, without taking Chidambaram’s name while addressing an election rally in this town that borders the Union minister’s native Sivaganga district.
On a whirlwind two-day electioneering in Tamil Nadu to canvass for NDA candidates, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate continued to describe Chidambaram as “recounting minister", a reference to his controversial win from Sivaganga constituency in 2009.
“Some people on this dais showed me a watch. It has the recounting minister’s photo and his symbol. I was told that these watches are being given to every household. EC should take it very seriously. There should be a probe against the recounting minister and Congress," he said.
Chidambaram on Thursday called the Gujarat chief minister an “encounter minister".
When reporters sought his reaction to Modi repeatedly calling him “recounting minister", Chidambaram said that is because he is an “encounter minister", apparently referring to the alleged fake encounters that occurred in Gujarat during Modi rule.
After Chidambaram opted out of the 24 April Lok Sabha polls, his son Karti Chidambaram has been given the Sivaganga seat.
Seeking to strike a chord with the locals, Modi spoke about the problems of the firecracker industry in nearby Sivakasi which employs lakhs of workers, and slammed the licence fee hike and blamed it on the faulty UPA policies.
He promised to take all steps for the welfare of the firecracker industry. Reiterating BJP’s commitment to interlinking of national rivers, Modi said if voted to power, the NDA Government will link “Cauvery and Ganga", thus addressing the drinking water problems and irrigation challenges of Tamil Nadu.
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