Sivaganga:
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today hit back at BJP's Narendra Modi for his "recount minister" dig at him, saying the Gujarat Chief Minister has once again staged a "fake encounter" with facts on the issue and that there was never a recount in the 2009 Lok Sabha election in his constituency of Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.
In a statement, he said Mr Modi "once again staged a fake encounter with facts" at his public meeting near Chennai last night when he referred to him as "recount minister".
"The fact is that in the 2009 election from Sivaganga parliamentary constituency, the votes were counted only once. There was no recount. In fact, the complaint of the defeated candidate is that his belated request for recount was rejected the Returning Office.
"Everybody (except Mr Modi) knows this fact. I am sure he will stage more fake encounters with facts and entertain people," Mr Chidambaram said.
His repeated reference to "fake encounter" is an apparent taunt at the various alleged fake encounters in Gujarat in Mr Modi's tenure to eliminate suspected terrorists and the controversies that stemmed from there.
The minister plans to issue a detailed statement tomorrow, with facts and figures on Mr Modi's criticism about his handling of the economy of the country.
At a rally near Chennai yesterday, Mr Modi had said, "The recount minister has been using foul language against me for quite some time now. I have been maintaining silence because the more mud you throw, lotus will blossom all the more."
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate also said that under Mr Chidambaram and noted economist Manmohan Singh, India has registered high unemployment, fiscal debt and low growth.
Mr Chidambaram has represented Sivaganga six times in the Lok Sabha. AIADMK candidate R S Raja Kannappan, who lost the constituency to the minister by just over 3,000 votes in 2009, had alleged that Mr Chidambaram had misused his position as Finance Minister to influence the election.