Congress has actually conceded defeat: BJP

Taking potshots at Congress, rival Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday claimed that the decision of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to opt out of the Lok Sabha poll race indicated the state of affairs in the party as it was "running away from the contest".

"The (person) who served as the finance minister for seven out of 10 years is not even contesting. He is running away from the contest. He is not willing to face the voting public to give answers as to what his achievements were," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Chidambaram's decision to not contest was a symbolic one and an important development which reflects the current mindset within Congress, she claimed.

"It is symbolic that the finance minister, who remained so for the major part of (UPA's) term of 10 years, is not even available for answers. They have no will to fight, they have actually conceded defeat," she added.

Chidambaram has chosen not to contest the Lok Sabha polls and Congress has now nominated his son Karti from his constituency of Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.

Sitharaman said that BJP had formed a grand alliance in Tamil Nadu which had scared many leaders in other parties.

Those who criticised NDA's 'India Shining' campaign used to say that a dream team of economists -- Dr Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and P Chidamabaram -- will bring in a beautiful, inclusive India, Sitharaman said before charging that this very dream team had left the economy in doldrums.

She said that Chidambaram had also been Finance Minister before the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government which had to do a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to raise the country's growth rate.

She slammed the UPA government for its handling of the economy and blamed the situation where all sectors are facing trouble on the ruling alliance.

She said that led by their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, BJP was now asking questions related to development and the economy.