Is the country set to get its second PM from the south?
Palaniappan Chidambaram has been forging ahead with such steam since taking over the Home Ministry after the Mumbai terrorist attack that there can no longer be an iota of doubt about his Prime Ministerial ambitions. He is not new to the Home portfolio, having handled internal security as a junior Minister under Rajiv Gandhi, and has managed to notch up some “firsts”. They are significant for being clear pointers to his ambition for the top job. He took the Prime Minister’s permission to summon the Army and Navy Chiefs to discuss internal security. He announced a visit to Washington for discussions with the outgoing administration, taking the MEA by surprise. The trip got cancelled as the Bush administration was in the midst of handing over charge. Chidambaram also played a part in working out the modalities of establishing the NIA, stealing a march over the BJP-led NDA which had contemplated such an organization but left it at that.
There are indications that the suave 63-year-old Chettiar is positioning himself as the Deputy Prime Minister without being so appointed. His qualities as an astute politician and lawyer have propelled him to great heights in barely two decades and his stint as the Union Finance Minister has been stupendous. He is highly intelligent, arrogant, austere in living habits, somewhat susceptible to the fair sex, and has an undisputed reputation for being incorruptible, a good lawyer and a tough fiscal disciplinarian.
Yet, though he has been elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sivaganga constituency no less than six times with the active backing of the DMK, he lacks a mass base. Interestingly, the only time he contested without DMK support he came a cropper. AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s animus towards Chidambaram is well known while DMK czar M Karunanidhi’s intense dislike for him is also no secret. Considering the clout of the two Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, and with the Congress relegated to near-obscurity in the state, Chidambaram gave up visions of being Chief Minister.
Considered an upstart in Tamil Nadu politics, he enjoyed the patronage of the late GK Moopanar (AICC General Secretary from 1981 to 1988) but, unlike his mentor, prefers being in the forefront to being a powerful behind-the-scenes player. After an MBA from Harvard Business School, he caught the attention of Rajiv Gandhi, who inducted him as Deputy Minister, Commerce and elevated him to MOS, in 24 months.
Chidambaram’s left-of-Centre approach has not held him back in pursuing economic reforms with vigour. As Commerce Minister in the Narasimha Rao government, he began the reforms process even before the then Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, presented his first Budget. Within a week of taking office, he started the process of deregulation in trade and many credited him with transforming the Exim policy from an instrument of control to a driver of export growth. But, owing to the Harshad Mehta affair, he had to resign because his family owned some shares in the scam-tainted firm, Fairgrowth. Surprisingly, his resignation was accepted without fuss by Narasimha Rao.
Three years later, Chidambaram returned as Commerce Minister but, shortly before the 1996 general election, he quit the Congress to set up the TMC with Moopanar. Followers of Moopanar accuse Chidambaram of ditching his mentor when the latter came close to becoming Prime Minister in 1997. This was during the United Front government when, in a surprise move after the Left had committed a historic blunder, Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet asked Moopanar to lead a Congress-supported government. Moopanar politely but expectedly declined the offer.
Subsequently, Chidambaram parted ways with Moopanar and created his own party, the Congress Janayaka Peravai. It ultimately merged with the Congress, paving the way for his homecoming and a fresh stint in the Congress-led UPA government in 2004 as Finance Minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet.
There was no doubt in any quarter that the reforms process would receive an added push though his 2004 Budget was nowhere reminiscent of the 1997 one which had been unanimously rated 10/10. He did not shy away from hard decisions, from giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Chidambaram was clued in on the subject and civil servants could not pull the wool over his eyes. And, to a great extent he refrained from giving in to powerful industrial lobbies. He cultivated the Left. It was clear he and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia had the backing of the Prime Minister.
He won Sonia Gandhi’s confidence during the Narasimha Rao regime. Due to criticism that the government was dragging its feet on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, a Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency was set up and Narasimha Rao asked Chidambaram to keep Sonia Gandhi briefed on the progress of the investigations.
Chidambaram is not entirely free of controversy. Son Karthik is said to be his Achilles’ heel. But mud has rarely stuck. Reputed to have a glad eye, he was furious about a particular Bangalore allegation some years ago and even issued a denial which only fuelled further speculation. A natty dresser, he has a liking for the Page 3 crowd though his photograph rarely appears in those columns.
He is said to live in a spartan manner in his bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi. Till a few years ago, he would – to the disconcertment of many – answer his residential phone and screen calls by saying, “Chidambaram is not at home” when the caller clearly recognized his voice. Despite a reputation for being arrogant, he is said to be helpful to people facing genuine distress due to government red tape and bureaucracy.
To his critics in the Congress and the Dravidian parties, he is an opportunist to the core. They dismiss his Prime Ministerial ambitions categorically. First, he might not retain the Sivaganga seat in the coming general election. Then, the Congress has to secure the critical arithmetic to be in the running again. Considering the party’s standing in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, this might not come to pass. And thereafter he has to win Sonia Gandhi’s trust over other heavyweights, including Manmohan Singh.
He is highly intelligent, arrogant, austere in living habits, somewhat susceptible to the fair sex, and has an undisputed reputation for being incorruptible, a good lawyer and a tough fiscal disciplinarian
As Commerce Minister in the Narasimha Rao government, he began the reforms process even before the then Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, presented his first Budget. Within a week of taking office, he started the process of deregulation in trade and many credited him with transforming the Exim policy from an instrument of control to a driver of export growth
