I know my limitations: Chidambaram on PM candidature

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday rubbished reports that he was being seen as a contender for the coveted post of the prime minister in 2014, saying he knew his limitations.

“I know my limitations and I live and conduct myself according to my limitations,” said Chidambaram, when asked about DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and actor Kamal Hassan considering him a potential prime ministerial candidate at the press conference of Group of Ministers (GoM) in New Delhi.

“I know that some of you think I am foolish, but I am not so foolish as you think,” he added, while responding to the answer in a lighter tone.

Karunanidhi had, earlier, lavished praise on Chidambaram, and said that the finance minister was among the few who had a place in his heart as the senior Congress leader, was virtually projected by some speakers at a function as a potential prime ministerial candidate.

The DMK patriarch himself made a reference in his speech to loud applause and cheers from the audience whenever speakers expressed their wish to see a 'dhoti-clad' Tamilian occupying the prime minister's post, an apparent reference to Chidambaram.

Kamal Hassan has also expressed his desire to see Chidambaram become the country's prime minister.