Chidambaram Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on Rajiv Gandhi, saying it showed his “desperation” and “fear of defeat”.
In a series of tweets, the former Union Finance Ministerwondered if any religion sanctioned speaking ill of the dead.
A day after Modi took a jibe at former Prime Minister RajivGandhi at his party rally at Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Chidambaram said,”The PM’s remarks on former PM Rajiv Gandhi show the extent of hisdesperation and fear of defeat.”
Quoting a Latin saying ‘De mortuis nihil nisi bonum’ whichmeant “Of the dead, speaking nothing but the good,” Chidambaramasked: Has the PM heard of this ancient wisdom?
“Does any religion allow anyone to speak ill of thedead?” he asked.
Accusing the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi ofattempting to tarnish his image over the Rafale issue, Modi had said, “Yourfather was termed ‘Mr Clean’ by his courtiers, but his life ended as’Bhrastachari number 1′ (corrupt number 1)”.
He claimed the Congress chief had admitted in an interviewthat his only aim is to tarnish the image of Modi.
“By hurling abuses, you cannot dissolve the 50-longyear of Modi’s tapasya (struggle) in dust,” the prime minister had said atPratapgarh rally.
“By tarnishing my image and by making me small, thesepeople want to make an unstable and a weak government in the country,” hehad said.