Modi running 'I, Me, Mine' poll campaign: Chidambaram

Says, "nobody can destroy the idea of India, much less Mr Modi"

"I, Me, Mine" is the running theme of Narendra Modi's election campaign in which he was pushing an agenda based on "majoritarianism", Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.

"The unstated premise of his approach is majoritarianism. And more than that is also I, Me and Mine," the senior Congress leader told PTI in an interview here.

Answering a question about those who argue that the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate was a danger to the idea of India, Chidambaram said, "Nobody can destroy the idea of India, much less Mr Modi. The RSS could not destroy the idea of India. The idea of India will survive. It is too strong an idea to be killed by one political outfit or one political leader."

To a question whether he considered Modi has been finally cleared of all charges in the 2002 riots by courts, he said, "No, I don't think so. There are two aspects to what happened in 2002. One is legal culpability. The other is moral and political accountability. On the first, the matter is still in court. A court has accepted an SIT report but that has been challenged in a higher court. But I won't say anything more on that.

"But on the second, I am absolutely clear in my mind that the political and moral accountability rests with the Chief Minister. He was Chief Minister for several months when it happened. Yet in the last 12 years, he has refused to acknowledge his moral and political accountability. And what is more disappointing is his unwillingness to even utter the words -- I apologise."

Asked how he saw Modi as Prime Minister, the Minister said he did not know his views on many matters.

"He has not spoken on many matters. He has never addressed a press conference. I have raised a few questions -- what are his views on fiscal deficit, what is his philosophy on fiscal deficit, revenue deficit. What is his stand on monetary policy.

"Does he believe in GST because I know Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat were the ones who had opposed the GST. Does he support the reforms of direct taxes. Will he support the DTC," he said.