The cash-for-vote culture introduced by the Dravidian parties was a blot on democracy, said senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday.
At a conference of party office-bearers in Sivaganga Parliamentary Constituency on Saturday, Mr. Chidambaram said that he was not at all surprised over the debacle by his party in the last Parliamentary elections since he had predicted the results even before they were declared.
Stating that it was natural for people to be fed up with a party that was ruling the Centre for about 10 years, the former Union Minister said that he was indeed surprised by the reasons for the debacle since they were neither incumbency nor isolation by other parties as predicted by him.
“The bitter truth that hit me hard on my face was that the voters in Tamil Nadu had exercised their franchise for money. It is a blot on democracy that around 80 per cent of people voted for money. It is high time that we realise our folly and get rid of this blot,” he said.
Blaming the Dravidian parties for introducing the culture of cash for votes, he said: “Those who began it in Thirumangalam had paid for it in Srirangam. People living in places like New Delhi are speaking very low of Tamils because of such a culture prevailing here.”
His son Karti P. Chidambaram, former Union Minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan and former MP K.S. Alagiri also spoke.
