Davos: As India prepares for elections, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday hit out at BJP terming its economic policies as retrograde and "blood-eyed" and asked why it's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had never fielded a Muslim candidate.
He expressed confidence that Rahul Gandhi would be the Prime Minister if Congress comes back to power, saying the young leader has enough "fire in his belly" for the post. It was unlikely that any party would get majority and polls were likely to throw a "very very fractured mandate".
Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Chidambaram also took a dig at Aam Aadmi Party, saying there was no place for mob-democracy in India and the country was a party-based democracy where individuals cannot be bigger than a party.
On BJP being "anti-muslim", Chidambaram said some sections of Muslim people may have voted for BJP, as Narendra Modi himself claims, but the fact is that Modi has never fielded any Muslim candidate ever in any election in his state.
"What does that mean," he wondered. When asked why he has not joined the BJP, Chidambaram said BJP does not represent all sections of India and it does not even have presence in many parts of the country. "It has got policies that would destroy the very idea of India. Their's is a blood-eyed economic model," he said.
Asked about the next Prime Minister, Chidambaram said, "...Congress party is clear that if Congress is in a position to form a government it will be headed by Rahul Gandhi".
In 2004 Sonia Gandhi was elected leader, but the next day she declined and another leader was chosen. That model has worked, but that does not mean that we will have same model again, he said. "If Congress is called to form the government, I'm pretty certain in my mind that Rahul Gandhi will be the Prime Minister," he said.
Chidambaram said the BJP was also opposed to PDS (Public Distribution System) reforms despite a large majority not getting food at a time India possesses huge food grain stock. "Why is that BJP and its mascot are opposing these reforms," Chidambaram asked.
He emphasised that a party must be strong and no individual can be stronger than the party. Party units work as a link between the government and the people as the government cannot always reach the people directly or through the bureaucracy, he said.
On disinvestment, the Finance Minister said the BJP says it is like selling family silver, but the fact is this will improve fiscal position of state-run companies and boost corporate governance. "Their (BJP) policies are retrograde," he said. The government has set an ambitious target of raising about Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment programme for the current financial year.
Talking about his home state Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram said that by the time he joined politics, Congress party had been defeated and the DMK came to power. Later that party also split into two factions and they have mostly ruled the state, he said. Chidambaram expressed regret that the Congress party had failed in the state.
Responding to a query on politicians he admires the most, Chidambaram said, "John Kennedy (former US President) and Lee Luan Yew (of Singapore) outside India," he said. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose among those he did not know and Indira Gandhi among those he had known, he added.
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