P Chidambaram

P Chidambaram Biography

•Full name- Palaniappan Chidambaram
•Born- 16thSeptember, 1945 in Kandanur, Tamilnadu
•Political Party- Indian National Congress ( 1996)(2004- present)
•Spouse- Nalini Chidambaram
•Residence- Official Address: D-401  Gauri Sadan Haeily Road, New Delhi- 110
•Residence – Permanent Address: 16, Pycrofts Garden Road, Chennai 600 006, Tamil Nadu, India.
•Presently in office-  Minister of Finance (incumbent) since 31st July, 2012
•Post held (incumbent)- Re-appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce on February 9, 1995 and held the post till April 3, 1996
•Appointed as Finance Minister on June 1, 1996 and held the post till March 18, 1998.
•Minister of Home Affairs In office (30 November 2008 – 31 July 2012)
•Minister of State for personnel, Public relations and pensions (26 December 1985 – 2 December 1989)

P. Chidambaram has made a considerable mark for himself as a multifaceted individual. The minister is a distinguished corporate lawyer and statesmen who has made a mark with suavity and smoothness in affairs. Most of all in recent history he has also established himself as one of versatile finance minster. Another distinguishing factor of the PC is his ability to take a firm stand on issues and to stick to the same with firmness of thought and convention. He has led from the font in terms of his clear and articulate thinking.

P. Chidambaram Early life- P Chidambaram was born on the 16th September, 1945 to Palaniappa Chettiar and Lakshmi Achi. His maternal grandfather was a wealthy merchant and banker and Chettinad. He did his schooling from the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School in Chennai. After graduating with a BSc (Bachelor of Science) degree he earned his Bachelor’s of Law (L.L.B) degree from the erstwhile Madras Law University now Ambedkar Governement Law College Chennai and then went on to do his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Harvard School and also holds a master from Loyola College in Chennai.  He enrolled as a Lawyer in the Chennai High Court. He has two offices one in Delhi and another in Chennai and practices at the Supreme courts and various high courts in the country

P Chidambaram Political Career-  He first contested in the General election of 1984 from the Sivganga Constituency of Tamilnadu and was elected as MP from the constituency.  In the following September of 1985 he was inducted as the Deputy Minister of Commerce Ministry and was also made Minister in the Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and pension. He was relatively young when he was assumed his ministerial office. Later on he was appointed to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of State for Internal Security. He continued hold both offices till the next general elections in 1989. 

P. Chidambaram was re elected from the same constituency in the general elections of 1989,1991,1996,1998 and 2004.  Chidambaram was again inducted as Minister of state in June 1991 in the Ministry of commerce. He held that office till 1992. In the February of 1995 he was reappointed the minister of state (independent charge). While in the ministry he was instrumental in making changes in EXIM policy. Following this he quit the congress party and joined a faction of the Tamilnadu Congress Party called the Tamil Maanila Party (TMC). TMC was an important part of the coalition government that came into power and he was given the key portfolio of Finance in the government. Today the coalition Governement did not last for his competence as Minister for Finance in any manner did not diminish. 

Chidambaram had a interloping political stinct after this. He left the TMC to form his own party Congress Jananayaka Peravai. His party largely focused on Tamilnadu yet failed to take its place as a mainstream politics. He is competence in the finance portfolio backed by public mandate was the main reason for   his induction as Finance Minister in the UPA government in 2004. Holding the post of Finance Minister Chidambaram was instrumental in materialsing the 2008 budget. This budget aimed at offering a waive to the debts of farmers. His explanation being that these were solely responsible for boosting aggregate demand in the Indian economy. 

He has made a considerable convinent contribution to the working of his ministry. Moreover he has been attributed in bringing discipline in government spending and launched an ambitious tax reform program to tackle an unwieldy fiscal deficit.  In 2008 he was made Home Minster following the resignation of Shivraj Patil. Before the general elections in 2009. He took the bold decision of prioritizing elections above corporate demands to deploy security for T20-20 matches if IPL.

He was one of the representatives of the Central Government when a tri-party agreement was signed with the Gorkha Hill Council and the Government of West Bengal. The agreement was a result of Mamata Banerjee's effort to end a decade long unrest in the hills of Darjeeling.

P. Chidambaram Personal Life- He is married to Nalini Chidambaram, daughter of Justice (Retd.) Kailasam, Supreme Court, and Mrs. Soundra Kailasam, a renowned Tamil Poet and author, who is a Senior Advocate and a tax lawyer practicing in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court, primarily in litigation related to the Central Excise department of the Government of India. He has a son, Karti P. Chidambaram, who graduated with a BBA degree from the University of Texas, and Bachelors in Law from Cambridge University. His son is also a politician in the Congress party. He has keen interest in literature and in particular Tamil literature, and has a great affinity towards reading and literature.
                                                
PC Chidambaram Quotes
•In response to the Aircel Maxis deal- “God forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
•Speaking on the course of events in  Kasab Case- “ We did not create a Guantanamo Bay. We did not create a military court. Kasab was tried in a normal civil court, except that the judge was designated a special judge.”
•Phone tapping allegations as reported by Outlook- “Further enquiries are being made into the allegations in the magazine. If any evidence is forthcoming or discovered, the matter will be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate agencies,”
•In defense of the Shopian case and the CBI final report- “This is bizarre. You (those objecting CBI's findings in the Shopian tragedy) asked for a CBI inquiry and then if the inquiry does not support your original hypothesis, you condemn the report .”
•Babri Masjid Demolition and the Liberhan report-“Forget the Liberhan Commission report, your divisive politics was rejected in 2004 and the people of India who are the real masters rejected you and voted for the Congress which stands for an inclusive India and that is the idea of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. An inclusive nation will always prevail,”
•On the Headly probe-“ This is not a cricket match which gives a ball-by-ball description... Once the investigating agency completes investigations, we will share whatever has to be shared.
•On naxalism- “As long as they (the Naxals) don't abjure violence, security forces will confront them. Violence is simply unacceptable in a democracy.”
•Transfer of officer in Naxal Heartland- “It is a matter of regret that many officers have been reduced to a football, to be kicked here and there, from one post to another, without regard to the damage done to the job as well as the officer.”
•Susteanece of Financial Services-“ People should borrow, repay on time and then borrow again-if need be. That is how they grow and the financial system survives

PM Chidambaram Controversies- In September 2011, Subramanian Swamy moved to Supreme Court of India, after months of request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into Chidambaram's role in the 2G spectrum scam. A statement by the finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee concluded that the during his tenure as Finance Minster he collaborated in the pricing of 2 G spectrum. Secondly the dubious Aircel Maxis Deal that releaved that the ministers son had a 5% share on in the company. Even though shareholding in a large publicly listed company is easily verifiable, no evidence was produced to substantiate charges of Karti owning shares in any Maxis companies.

Chidambaram then had statutory authority over the FIPB in his role as the Finance Minister. Subsequently the issue was raised on multiple times in Parliament of India by the opposition which demanded his resignation. He as also accused of hoarding black money the minister however has refrained to respond on the issue. He was also accused  under the controversial companies registration as he represented the bankrupt Enron.  He had t tender his resignation in 1992 following the tender registration scam. Chidambaram's speeches for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu have been laced with anti-Hindi rhetoric and had questioned the number of Hindi speaking ministers in the NDA government although he himself was the Finance Minister at that time and later on the Home Minister for the country.

Chidambaram was also accused for his controversial scheme for tax payers.  His other brushes with controversy include his speech stating that migrants were responsible for the increase in crimes in Delhi. He was also severely criticsed for the lathi charge on Anna Hazare . Another instance is the way he tackled the issue of Maoist insurgency. Finally Chidambaram was criticized for his ministry's failure to prevent the 13 July 2011 Mumbai bombings, in spite of massive investments in security following the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  

P C Chidambaram books-
A view from outside:  How Good Economics works for everyone.
P Chidambaram Assets and net worth- Finance Minister P Chidambaram's total assets, including bank accounts and current assets, add up to Rs. 11.96 crore approximately.
Mr Chidambaram also has assets and liabilities as part of Hindu Undivided Family. His total assets as part of HUF are Rs. 94.04 lakh and liabilities worth Rs. 75.52 Lakh. Hence, his net assets here add up to Rs. 18.52 Lakh approximately. His wife Nalini has immovable assets worth Rs. 4.82 crore and the total assets add upto Rs. 17.81 crore approx. Her liabilities are Rs. 1.22 lakh.