Of all the political reactions to the quota grenade hurled into the UPA camp, the most curious and inexplicable has been that of Palaniappan Chidambaram.
The Harvard-educated pro-reforms Union finance minister has been an out-and-out supporter of Arjun Singh's proposal to reserve 27 per cent seats in institutions of higher learning for the Other Backward Classes. Volubly, vociferously so.
To his detractors, and there are many, who have long seen him as a hand-maiden of the World Bank, big business and corporate interests, Indian and foreign, Chidambaram's support for the quota move—and by extension to Meira Kumar's proposal for reservations in private sector—is baffling, mystifying.
Is the ambitious finance minister, a distinguished Supreme Court lawyer, who had no answer to Karan Thapar last night when asked if he sent his son to Texas and Cambridge because of what reservations had done to education in the South, really convinced of its benefits?
Or, by doing the counterintuitive thing, is he positioning himself for a bigger role, maybe even the prime ministership, if Manmohan Singh becomes dispensable in the eyes of Sonia Gandhi, and the cry goes up in the Congress for a more "political" PM? Is he making himself more attractive to UPA allies by batting with aplomb for quotas?
And is this why the Left parties are relentlessly gunning for Chidambaram on the fuel price hike issue? Is this why they are refusing to be convinced by the cut in sales taxes by the States and why they are pushing him to reduce central levies? Do they suspect that he could be the next PM?
chidambaram becoming the PM is not a bad idea ofcourse much better than Deve Gowda and educated too. But the reservation is far flung an episode to a PM seat!
Chidu too is eminent… eminently manageable by Sonia..
Makes no difference who the PM is…
Can’t trust him. Sort of hunting with the hounds and running with the hares.
if Chidu has to become PM, why are you comparing him with our (Nelson mandela) ‘Nela Son Mande illa’? I think soniya will not bring him to the front as Rahul is raring to go. anyway next elections they cannot get the power, after next term in opposition, rahul will be brought to the gaddi.
It all sounds nice, but there’s a problem. Chidambaram had left the Congress and launched his own party. As the examples of Sharad Pawar, Arjun Singh and N.D. Tewari show, that is a major handicap in the Congress.
I agree with Vijay , he is as spineless as a person can ever get ( that too in front of Madam)
Devegowda is better anyday compared to these Congress ‘JI MEMSAAB’ types.
Wasn’t this guy the lawyer for Enron and his son the CEO of a shady company which bought rivers and privatised the water distribution for the first time in Indian History!?
Why don’t they grill him about Enron’s hideous activities?
“Yes”, grill him about the “”Enron”” . any day if He should aim for the PM’s office, i will.