Palaniappan Chidambaram is a senior Congress leader and a Rajya Sabha MP who has previously been the Minister of Finance (1996-1997, 2004-2009, 2012- 2014) as well as the Minister of Home (2008-2012) in the previous UPA governments. A lawyer by profession and an MBA graduate from Harvard Business School, Chidambaram is virtually Congress' most significant face from Tamil Nadu. Recently, as an Opposition leader in the Upper House, Chidambaram frequently criticised the ruling government on issues like demonetization and fiscal policy at large.