Not in PM race...want to travel, read & write, says P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader and finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday brushed aside all speculations of an early election and his candidature for Prime Minister's post and instead promised a stable government and more reforms in the next few months.

"I have no such expectations. I believe that in the few years that remain to me, I want to do (a) few other things, like travel," Chidambaram said at an interaction on Wednesday when asked whom he would like to choose his finance minister after becoming the Prime Minister after 2014 general elections.

The expectations of early elections have risen following increasing differences between Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which heads the UPA coalition that has been weakened by the withdrawal of DMK and TMC.

The minister, who's seen as a strong contender for Prime Minister's post should the UPA come back, said he would like to "remain a worker of the Congress party", adding that he did not had enough opportunity to work at party level.

"I want to prove that I can also do party work. I will love to do party work, but I would do whatever the party asks me to do... I sincerely hope the party will allow me to travel, read and write," he said.

Ruling out early elections, Chidambaram said the government will last its full five year term.

"People talk about elections. They say have you not heard the bugle of election? I have not heard it. It is 13 months away," he said.

The government, he said, is elected for five years that is 60 months and has to work every day until the last day of its term, and that is precisely what the government will do.

The minister said the government could unveil host of initiatives in the next 2-4 months to ensure that the country achieves its potential growth rate of 8%.
"We will continue to take small significant steps. We will also take forward some big ideas. India's economy will continue to reform," he said and sought co-operation of the opposition to push the important pending bills in the Parliament regarding insurance, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the land acquisition bill.