The Congress has unambiguously come out in support of senior leader P. Chidambaram, condemning what the party called the Narendra Modi government’s “politics of vendetta”.
Demolishing the propaganda through the day that he was absconding, Chidambaram appeared at a media conference at the party headquarters late in the evening with top leaders accompanying him. He asserted that contrary to the claim that he was running from the law, he was seeking justice.
That the Congress stood firmly in solidarity with Chidambaram was clear as top leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, K.C. Venugopal, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid were present at the media conference.
It is unusual that a Congress leader not belonging to the Nehru-Gandhi family has received this kind of support in a legal battle in a corruption case. While Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra themselves issued statements, the Congress, along with all its frontal organisations, rallied behind the former Union minister.
“Modi’s Govt is using the ED, CBI & sections of a spineless media to character assassinate Mr Chidambaram. I strongly condemn this disgraceful misuse of power,” Rahul tweeted.
Priyanka was more forceful and candid: “An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, P Chidambaram ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister and Home Minister. He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes
the failures of this Government but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down. We stand by him and will continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are.”
Aware that the media optics and the claim that the former top Union minister was on the run despite a lookout notice by the CBI would damage the party politically, the leadership decided to stand up to the abnormal pressure by deciding not to dump the senior leader.
The entire Opposition believes that the Modi government has misused agencies to harass political rivals and even engineer defections in almost every party.
A senior Congress leader told The Telegraph: “If we dump Chidambaram at this stage and accept this as a normal legal course at a time when only Opposition leaders are being brazenly targeted, every single party will get destroyed sooner or later. The people are seeing the unseemly events — leaders are either saving themselves by joining the BJP or have to face the music. People understand this coercive politics.”
Chidambaram’s main lawyer, Singhvi, tweeted: “The hunger for sensationalisation in this case is deadly and could lead to character assassination of a towering political figure. How can somebody be an absconder who was in legal conference with me till 6.30pm yesterday?”
Veteran leaders Digvijaya Singh and Ashok Gehlot also condemned the alleged politics of vendetta.
The Congress posted a message on its official website: “A Government that persecutes its citizens for speaking truth to power is only reiterating its own cowardly nature. Chidambaram is an extremely qualified and respected leader, he has served this nation with dedication and humility. We stand by his quest for truth no matter what.”
The Mahila Congress tweeted: “This politics of vendetta by the Government in harassing Chidambaram is uncalled for. We stand by Chidambaram who has worked hard for the development of the nation and is being punished for constantly exposing the failures of the Government.”
The Youth Congress said: “The voice of reason, dignity and knowledge always resonates power. That very voice is today hunted by this sick, cowardly, dictatorial Modi government. Chidambaram has been always one of the greatest voices of the recent past. We stand by his side, now and always.”
