Congress will field strong candidate against Narendra Modi: P Chidambaram

SIVAGANGA: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said his party will field a strong candidate against Modi in Varanasi constituency, where AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is expected to take on the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. The minister chided Modi for preparing to contest from two seats including Varanasi and remarked "may be they have paucity of candidates".

Taking a swipe at BJP for the hype it built around Modi, Chidambaram in a tone tinged with sarcasm said "no body knows Modi in Tamil Nadu. No one fears Modi". Chidambaram also took a jibe at Arun Jaitley for his statement that senior Congress leaders were shying away from contest".

"Arun Jaitley is fighting the election for the first time at the age of 62. I have been contesting for 30 years", Chidambaram hit out at Jaitley while speaking to reporters after addressing an election rally. Chidambaram has won the Sivaganga constituency for seven terms.

On being asked if his party has been sidelined in Tamil Nadu, where it could not find any ally to fight the April 24 Lok Sabha election, he shot back "no national party has aligned with DMK. Dravidian parties cannot represent Tamil Nadu at the national level". He said DMK has been "ostracised" in Tamil Nadu, in an apparent reference to the M Karunanidhi-led party not been able to strike poll pact with national parties.