Yashwant Sinha calls Chidambaram 'conceited'

The war of words between United Progressive Alliance government and the main Opposition BJP over the economic situation saw BJP leader Yashwant Sinha calling Finance Minister P Chidambaram a 'conceited person' for labelling L K Advani 'our own John McCain'.

"I think this kind of facetious and casual statement could only have come from a conceited person like Mr Chidambaram. I don't think he has the stature to make a remark about the meeting that Advaniji called," Sinha, a former finance minister, told NDTV.

Advani, Leader of Opposition and BJP's prime ministerial candidate, had called a meeting of 15 top captains of Indian industry on Thursday to discuss the issues plaguing the Indian economy in the wake of the global meltdown.

Reacting to this move by Advani, Chidambaram had said, "I think Mr Advani is our own John McCain (Republican candidate for US Presidential elections). If he wants to instruct himself on the matters relating to economics and business, why should one grudge it."

McCain had drawn flak during the US Presidential campaign for his lack of knowledge on economics.

• Global meltdown: Complete coverage