The Hindu Business Line : Goodbye, Mr Chidambaram

The article “Goodbye, Mr Chidambaram” (Business Line, November 4) is an interesting piece on a distinguished ex-Finance Minister of India, who was clearly articulate, yet abrasive, with a reputation for detail.

The public probably did not understand what sort of a man he is, but the media definitely had a knack of quizzing him with the clear intention of catching him short and, generally, failing in that endeavour.

However, some points of the author need further clarification. I am personally curious to know the reason why the author feels that Mr Chidambaram “was not at heart quite a politician but still managed to win elections”. Also, his alleged loss of “lustre and credibility” needs to be backed by data.

Rajiv Bandyopadhyay e-mail

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The article was short on the achievements of Mr Chidambaram as finance minister, but long on him as a person. Even his personal enemies seemed to agree that dishonest people could not have their way with him.

This itself is a great achievement in Indian politics.

While it can be debated whether the 9 per cent GDP growth was because of him or not, the behaviour of income-tax authorities with ordinary citizens has certainly changed during his tenure.

Anil Pathak Kuwait

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The article on Mr P. Chidambaram is thought-provoking and frank. I really appreciate the author’s bold, critical and personal comments.

Your article would have been complete, had you provided some road map to Mr Chidambaram for his Home Ministry stint..

M. R. Ramesh Bapu e-mail

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Goodbye, Mr Chidambaram