Chidambaram drags Modi 'Harvard' feud into budget speech

The war of words between BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Finance Minister P Chidambaram has just found its way into the budget speech. In the vote on account that the Finance Minister was presenting to the Lok Sabha he said, “My mother and Harvard taught me the value of hard work”. And if anyone is wondering why the prestigious ivy league college found its way into the budget speech, it’s not because Chidambaram was overcome with a sudden sense of nostalgia for his old alma mater. [caption id=“attachment_1393931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  We’re seeing the fighting in the budget speech now[/caption] He was responding to a stinging speech that Modi made against him in a rally in Chennai, where he said: “The Finance Minister is from Harvard. 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… Yeh recounting minister ka ahankar chatt par chad kar bol raha hai (This Recounting Minister is excessively arrogant). He has been using foul language against me for quite some time now. Let’s see who changes the fate of the nation. Harvard or hard work. I have been keeping quiet because the more mud you throw, the lotus will blossom to greater glory. Do we need Harvard or hard work for the development of the country” ( Read more ) Modi had also said that Chidambaram was under the impression that he had been first in line when God was handing out brains. This tirade in turn had been in response to an interview that the Finance Minister gave the BBC, in which he said, “What he (Modi) knows about economics can be written on the back of a postage stamp”. Shortly after Modi’s rant, Chidambaram who was more stung by the ‘recounting minister’ tag (a reference to his controversial 2009 poll victory from Sivaganga which has since been contested) said that Modi was staging a ‘fake encounter’ with facts. The Harvard jibe had not been alluded to… until now that is. Yet another indication that crazy season (by which we mean election season of course) is well and truly upon us.