P. Chidambaram has revived the discussion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s habitual use of the third person for himself.

Earlier this week the former finance minister tweeted, “The Modi-centric rhetoric of Mr Modi is getting too tiresome and boring. Does not Mr Modi have anything to say except talk about himself? How many times will Mr Modi utter his own name in an election speech?”

He went on to add, “ Mr Modi's style of speaking has a name -- illeism. That's a little known word because it is a trait found only in a few people. Is illeism abnormal is a question that has been discussed in many research papers. It is certainly unusual if not abnormal.”

The word is defined as ‘ excessive use of the pronoun he especially in reference to oneself’ and even before he became Prime Minister, observers had taken note of this trait in Narendra Modi. Writing in May, 2014 writer and commentator Dilip Bobb wrote, “ …what is truly compelling is the references to himself in the third person. In many interviews and public speeches, his responses or statements are peppered with Modi will and Modi has said or Modi wants... It sounds quite discordant. Indian politicians generally avoid such references because it is so closely associated with the Royal ‘we ‘as in We are not amused.”