The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, on Thursday accused Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram of distributing wristwatches to voters in nearby Sivaganga constituency, where the Minister’s son, Karti P. Chidambaram is contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Campaigning for NDA candidates here, Mr. Modi, urged the Election Commission “to take this very seriously” and launch a probe into the incident that allegedly took place when Mr. Chidambarm was campaigning for his son.
Mr. Modi claimed that the watches with the “portrait” of Mr. Chidambaram and the ‘Hand’ symbol of the Congress were presented to the voters at their doorstep.
BJP’s Sivaganga candidate H. Raja brought one such watch to the venue and showed it to Mr. Modi.
Dismissing Mr. Modi’s allegations, the Finance Minister, referring to the former’s repeated taunt of Mr. Chidambaram as a ‘recounting Minister,’ said, “I told the media in Chennai that Mr. Modi is a compulsive liar. There was no re-count in Sivaganga. He knows that. Yet he lies…if he insists on calling me Recounting Minister, I can call him encounter Minister; I can call him encounter Chief Minister.”
Mr. Karti Chidambaram told The Hindu that the watches were given to senior party functionaries on the Finance Minister’s birthday in September, two years ago. “The total number was not more than 500. If Mr. Modi likes one, I will happily gift him one.”
