Palaniappan Chidambaram: A tough taskmaster

NEW DELHI: P Chidambaram, the Harvardeducated lawyer has earned the reputation of being a good economic administratorcapped by his image as a tough taskmaster during his short stint as homeminister. For Palaniappan Chidambaram, it is a long journey from ahardcore Leftist in 1960s to being India's liberal face and a bold reformer.64-year-old Chidambaram, who hails from a small business communityof prosperous Chettiars of Tamil Nadu, was a leading figure of economic reformsundertaken by P V Narasimha Rao government post 1991 and executed by ManmohanSingh as finance minister. An MBA from Harvard, the eminent lawyerplayed a key role in that economic reforms team of Rao as minister of state forcommerce with independent charge. The experience gained during thatperiod came to his help when he was made the finance minister in the UnitedFront government in 1996 under H D Deve Gowda. He presented a budgetthat vastly slashed tax rates and contained a number of sops for the corporatesector which was hailed as a "dream budget". That the budget could not have itsfull run due to unstable political situation and the fall of the governmentthen, is a different matter. Chidambaram again made his entry intothe finance ministry after the UPA was voted to power in 2004 beating many otherclaimants to the post.Acknowledging his ability to handle any jobbeing given to him efficiently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had shifted him tothe home ministry following the Mumbai terror attack which led to theresignation of Shivraj Patil from the union cabinet. It was ahome-coming of sorts for Chidambaram in the home ministry, where he was thejunior minister in charge of internal security in the Rajiv Gandhi government inlate 1980s. During his short tenure, Chidambaram has successfullystrengthened the security apparatus across the country. He reorganising theintelligence network, tightened the provisions in the anti-terror laws andamended the CISF Act to enable the security force to guard vital privateinstallations. As the minister for personnel in the Rajivgovernment, he had carried out a number of administrative reforms.Beginning his political career as a Congressman, Chidambaram, asuave and articulate politician, was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 fromthe Sivaganga constituency in south Tamil Nadu and was inducted into ministry byRajiv Gandhi. Chidambaram's hardwork and adeptness in handling theeconomic issues facing the country made him India's youngest finance ministerunder the Gowda government in 1996.Chidambaram had then quit theCongress and joined the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) of G K Moopanar, who hadfloated the regional outfit after falling out with the Congress over aligningwith AIADMK. As the then finance minister, he had strived to bringdiscipline in government spending and introduced an innovative tax reformsprogramme to tackle the growing fiscal deficit. Chidambaram, wholost the Parliamentary elections only once in 1999, parted ways with Moopanar in2001 when the veteran Congressman decided to align with Jayalalithaa's AIAMDKfor the 2001 Assembly elections and floated his own outfit Congress JananayagaPeravai. In his early life, Chidambaram practiced as an advocate inthe Madras High Court and later in the Supreme Court, and was an adviser toseveral multi-national companies. Since 1984, he was re-elected tothe Lok Sabha from the same constituency in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and inthe just concluded Parliamentary elections. He lost only in 1999 on a TMCticket.