PM showers praise on Chidambaram

  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday showered praise on Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is in the line of opposition fire, saying he derived “immense” support from his “enlightened leadership.”

“Since 2004, I have been deriving immense support from his enlightened leadership as Finance Minister and then as Home Minister. Whatever task is given to him, he performs with super aplomb,” Dr. Singh said at a function here in Chidambaram’s Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency.

Dr. Singh’s remarks came against the backdrop of Mr. Chidambaram coming under opposition attack over his alleged role in 2G spectrum allocation scam and the charge of misuse of office in helping a Delhi-based hotelier.

“He and I have been colleagues since 1990s and worked hand in hand. I worked as Finance Minister when he worked as Commerce Minister then,” the Prime Minister said, referring to Chidambaram who was seated among the audience at a function in the Alagappa University.

Gunning for his resignation, BJP has been boycotting Chidambaram in Parliament heckling him whenever he rises to speak, with the party using his alleged misuse of office in helping a Delhi-based hotelier as a fresh ammunition against him.

The UPA Government and the Congress have rallied behind Chidambaram, rejecting the opposition charges and calls for his resignation.

With his engagements in Karaikudi, Dr. Singh wrapped up his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu over which the Mullaperiyar dam row between the state and Kerala cast its shadow.