Not contesting polls is Chidambaram's no-trust against himself: Yashwant Sinha

The latest salvo in the P Chidambaram vs Yashwant Sinha war of words over the state of the economy has come from the BJP leader, who has again mocked the Finance Minister for not contesting this year's general elections.

"By not fighting the elections in spite of being FM, Chidambaram has presented a no-trust motion against himself," said Mr Sinha, and added, "As Chidambaram announced that he won't contest for elections, the rupee went strong against the dollar."

Like Mr Chidambaram, Mr Sinha, a former finance minister, has opted out of this year's election, vacating his constituency for his son.

Yesterday, Mr Chidambaram had derided as "puerile" a list of 18 questions posted on the weekend to him by the BJP leader and described him as a "distant memory."

The 68-year-old defended his decision not to contest this year's election saying, "I have categorically denied I am retiring from politics. I am not contesting elections because I want to do other things in life."

The Finance Minister took umbrage at Mr Sinha calling him a "spoiler" for the economy and had unleashed an "economic factsheet" to defend his government's economic policies.

Mr Chidambaram also launched a fierce attack on the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

"Modi has deep character flaws," Mr Chidambaram said, repeating his party's allegation that the BJP candidate is a divisive leader who fuels communal tension. "His brand of capitalism is crony capitalism," he said of Mr Modi, who is credited with giving Gujarat a booming economy.

The election comes as India struggles through its longest period of sub-5 per cent economic growth since the 1980s.

Mr Chidambaram, a Harvard-trained former lawyer, is often credited with overseeing India's years of fastest growth from 2004 to 2009. But he was less successful in his third stint in the Finance Ministry from 2012, a period of economic malaise that has fuelled the slide in his party's popularity.

Investors, who once praised the minister as a market-friendly reformer and a good candidate for Prime Minister, are now cheering for Narendra Modi.