Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 24 : Responding to party colleague Manickam Tagore's remark that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leaders are operating with a "fan club mindset" by projecting their leader, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay, as a future Prime Minister, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Monday said that while party workers may harbor deep admiration for their leader, national leadership is governed strictly by the constitutional requirement of winning 272 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking to reporters, Chidambaram said that such whims hold no bearing on mainstream public discourse.
"I fully accept that they have great love, affection, expectation, and admiration for their party leadership. This is their party. What they say within their party makes no difference to the public discourse. In public discourse, what you should ask about is policy and the law. Their wishes within a party make no difference to me," Chidambaram said.
"Every party has dreams, ambitions, and desires. One cannot pass laws to stop that. Everyone expresses their own wishes and talks about their favourite leader in their party. But we know what the political reality is. There are 543 constituencies. According to the Constitution, the leader of whichever alliance wins 272 constituencies, or whichever party wins, will be the Prime Minister of India. Anyone who achieves that number can become the Prime Minister, individually or collectively. You and I both know what that political reality is," he added.
Weighing in on the government policy extending maternity leave to one year as an incentive for couples to have a third child to counter declining birth rates, Chidambaram expressed strong opposition, describing the initiative as a "totally misplaced idea."
"I don't accept that at all. In this 21st century, we need a healthy and highly educated population; we shouldn't increase numbers for the sake of numbers. Giving maternity leave as an incentive for a third child should never be a government scheme. We need small, well-educated, and healthy families. With oncoming technology, the need for sheer manpower will decrease. Therefore, schemes to increase the population just for the sake of numbers are not needed at all. This is a misplaced idea. Totally misplaced idea. Why only maternity leave? Let paternity leave also be given. Why should only women look after children? Let fathers also look after them. As far as I know, paternity leave should also be given. But not for a third child; it should stop with the first and second child," the Congress leader asserted.
Turning towards the Cauvery water-sharing issue, Chidambaram emphasised that the rightful share of Cauvery water allocated to Tamil Nadu under the directives of the Cauvery Water Management Board must be released to the state consistently every year.
"As far as we are concerned, we need to make sure that the water which is due to Tamil Nadu as per the Cauvery Management Board is always supplied to Tamil Nadu in all years," Chidambaram said.