My mother, Harvard taught me the value of hard work: Chidambaram's dig at Narendra Modi

New Delhi :  Finance Minister P Chidambaram used the last budget of the UPA government to take a swipe at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. "My mother and Harvard taught me the value of hard work," Mr Chidambaram said while presenting the interim budget.

It marked the latest chapter in his rivalry with Mr Modi, who, at a rally in Chennai earlier this month, had taunted him for his failure to revive the Indian economy despite his Harvard background.

"The Finance Minister is from Harvard. The Prime Minister is an economist and he too has a degree from a big university. I have hard work to my credit. Going to Harvard means nothing. What matters is hard work... A man who has just studied in an ordinary school, sold tea and has not even seen the doors of Harvard has shown what it takes to handle economy," the Gujarat chief minister had said.
With his budget speech being beamed live, Mr Chidambaram turned the reference to his Harvard credentials around to hit back at Mr Modi. He also sought to reassure the electorate that the worst phase of the Indian economy was over, and that it was back on the growth trajectory. "Our objectives were fiscal consolidation, reviving growth cycle, and enhancing manufacturing," Mr Chidambaram said, adding, "I can confidently assert that fiscal deficit is declining, the current account deficit is constrained, inflation is moderated, exchange rate is stable."
As the Congress embarks on its re-election bid, it has been haunted by charges of policy paralysis, which had hurt the manufacturing, export and other sectors, and failure to contain inflation, which had hit the poor and salaried classes hard. With general elections round the corner, the Finance Minister asserted India was back on the revival mode.