Modi headed one-person government, time will tell if NDA govt is stable: Chidambaram

CHENNAI: Former union finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that the Congress party achieved moral victory and Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi failed morally in the just concluded Parliamentary polls. Chidambaram also said that time would tell if the coalition headed by Modi, who was used to running one-person governments, would be stable.

Talking to media persons at state party headquarters Sathyamurthy Bhavan here, Chidambaram said, "In an earlier election, Congress was in the number one position. The BJP was trailing in number two position. L K Advani said then that the winner finished second. In this election, the Congress party has achieved moral victory. If someone suffered a moral failure it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Responding to a specific query on the PM criticizing the Congress for celebrating as if the BJP had lost the election, Chidambaram said, "Why is he (Modi) aggrieved about our (Congress) celebration. Why is he envious of our celebration? He looks dispirited."

Asked if the coalition government headed by Modi would be stable, a reticent Chidambaram said, "Modi must answer the question. When he was Gujarat CM and PM for ten years, he was used to running a one-person government. Now he is under compulsion to form a coalition government. Time will tell or he must tell if the government will be stable."

On the PM worshipping the Constitution at the meeting of the NDA in the Parliament hall, Chidambaram said, "I welcome his worshipping the Constitution. The people of the country have given the INDIA bloc 240 seats as a self-defense mechanism to safeguard the Constitution and prevent any dilution of it. There is no other go other than protecting the constitution. I don't know what he (Modi) had in mind when he worshipped the Constitution."

Exit polls produced at one place, circulated to all media houses

Sparing a thought for the exit poll predictions which went awry, the former finance minister said, "I went to many polling booths on polling day. In no booth was there anyone surveying people for exit polls. Suddenly, there are a flurry of exit poll predictions."

Wondering as to how every exit poll predicted 350 seats for the BJP, the senior Congress leaders said, "It was produced at one place, photocopied and circulated to all media houses and they were asked to promote it. The false narrative of BJP winning 350 and 400 seats was aired to fool people. There could be other reasons for it. It must be ascertained. Overcoming all that, the people of India have taught humility to the BJP."

Congratulating the NDA government as a 'citizen', Chidambaram said that as an opposition party, they would definitely monitor the NDA government and there was a lesson for all parties, including Congress which lost in some states, in the results of the just concluded Parliamentary polls.

To a query on Rahul Gandhi alleging exit poll –stock market scam, the former finance minister said, "If the stock market rises in tune with the Indian economy it can be accepted. But when the Indian economy rises marginally and the stock market rises sharply, it shows the weakness of the stock market. We cannot judge the success of the Indian economy based on NIFTY and SENSEX. It is a zero-sum game. Someone is making money, someone is losing it. It is not at all related to 140 crore people of India."