File photo of P Chidambaram
Bristling at
Narendra Modi's label of 'Recounting Minister' for him, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today shot back - 'I can call him Encounter Chief Minister."
The sparring began with Mr Modi's comments at a rally this morning. "In Tamil Nadu, there is a Congress leader - Recounting Minister-- he is so afraid that he ran away from elections," he said while campaigning in Ramanathapuram bordering Mr Chidambaram's native Sivaganga.
Mr Chidambaram soon hit back, "Mr Modi is a compulsive liar. There was no recount in Sivaganga. He knows that. Yet he lies. If he insists on calling me Recounting Minister, I can call him Encounter Chief Minister."
(India Votes 2014: Coverage)His comments referred to alleged fake encounters in Gujarat - the state Mr Modi has ruled since 2001 - and allegations that some of them involved his close aide and then home minister Amit Shah, currently in charge of the BJP's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
(Amit Shah, the man assigned to deliver Uttar Pradesh for Narendra Modi)Mr Modi, who is running for prime minister, has repeatedly made digs at the union minister over his narrow win in the previous election, which has been challenged in court.
Mr Chidambaram, a seven-time MP from Sivaganga, barely scraped through in 2009 by around 3,500 votes. His nearest rival, AIADMK's RS Kannappam, then moved the Madras High Court alleging that government officials had unfairly credited his votes to the Congress leader's tally. The case is still in court.
(Not retiring from politics, says Chidambaram)When Mr Chidambaram chose not to contest the polls this time, the BJP sniggered that he was afraid of losing at a time the Congress is staring at defeat. The Congress has fielded the minister's 42-year-old son Karti, a businessman, from the largely rural constituency.
(India Votes: Schedule)