April 25: P. Chidambaram and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today conferred on each other titles they are unlikely to add to their curricula vitae.

The Union home minister labelled Bengal under the Left chief minister the “worst-governed” state in the country.

The chief minister returned the compliment by referring to Chidambaram as “Doctor Babu”, spinning a home-grown version of the Biblical proverb “physician, heal thyself”.

Chidambaram had fired the first salvo on Monday’s campaign trail, renewing focus on the governance record of the Left Front — an issue the Prime Minister brought to the fore last week by cataloguing the decline of Bengal in the past 34 years.

Picking up the thread from where Manmohan Singh had left off, Chidambaram told a news conference in Calcutta: “Bengal is the worst-governed state and I had repeatedly brought this to the notice of the chief minister in my famous correspondence with him. Now change is coming to West Bengal.”

Bhattacharjee returned the fire from Howrah in the evening. “Chidambaram has come from Delhi to heal us, but I say, Doctor Babu, heal yourself. We know how to heal ourselves.”

The bhadralok chief minister usually does not give such advice to visitors to the state but Chidambaram’s three-pronged criticism appears to have touched a raw nerve.

Chidambaram, whose Lok Sabha profile does not mention a doctorate but refers to an MBA from Harvard, had gone about the business of dissecting the Left with the surgical precision he is known for.

Citing figures — which Left politicians challenged but Bengal officials termed “more or less credible” — the Union home minister skewered the record of the state government in job creation for Muslims and law and order (see chart).

Chidambaram also put under the scanner the grim —and well-documented — state of the Bengal government’s financial health.

Chidambaram, who has held the Union finance portfolio more than once, came close to challenging state finance minister Asim Dasgupta to a debate. “I can’t also be unmindful of the finances in West Bengal. It is debt-stressed and its fiscal position is bad. Asim Dasgupta can spend some time for a debate with me on this,’’ he said.

Dasgupta said he would “love” such a debate, but in the future. “I have known Chidambaram for quite a long time but since the electoral process is on, I would not like to make any comment now. But in future, I would love to have a debate with him,” he said.

The Union minister asserted that “from all reports, it is clear to me that a new government will come with an overwhelming majority. Mamata Banerjee is a brave lady.”

Addressing election meetings at Canning East, Keshpur and Garbeta, he said he had “repeatedly told the chief minister about the lawlessness… gave him maps on the movement of armed cadres. But the chief minister was in a state of denial. The bubble burst when Netai occurred. After that, the chief minister couldn’t look into my eyes.”

CPM leader Rabin Deb described the numbers cited by Chidambaram as “baseless” ( ). But sources in Writers’ Buildings indicated that the figures were “not misleading”. “Central intelligence regularly interacts with the state intelligence branch and seeks reports,” an official said.

Chief minister Bhattacharjee appeared to be pinning his hopes on a backlash. “Chidambaram is not popular in Bengal,” he said. “I’m sure his visits there (Keshpur and Garbeta) will only help the CPM and more people will vote for us.”