The Congress on Wednesday rallied around former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who is facing arrest in two cases of alleged corruption.
Many senior leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have called the action taken by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate a witch-hunt for speaking out against the government.
Barring Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin, who came out in support of Mr. Chidambaram, the other Opposition parties have maintained a studied silence.
ADVERTISEMENT
“[Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s government is using the ED, CBI and sections of a spineless media to character-assassinate Mr. Chidambaram. I strongly condemn this disgraceful misuse of power,” Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter.
His sister and Congress general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, tweeted that Mr. Chidambaram was being hunted down for speaking the truth.
“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,” Ms. Vadra said in a tweet.
ADVERTISEMENT
She said the party would stand by him and continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are.
Unequivocal stand
The Congress officially too has taken an unequivocal stand supporting him, and accused the government of “persecuting” him for speaking truth.
“A government that persecutes its citizens for speaking truth to power is only reiterating its own cowardly nature. P. Chidambaram is an extremely qualified and respected leader. He has served this nation with dedication & humility. We stand by his quest for truth no matter what,” the Congress said on its official Twitter account.
A strong contingent of lawyers-cum-Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha, were present at the Supreme Court to argue on behalf of Mr. Chidambaram.
The Congress, however, did not hold a formal press briefing to take a stand on the issue.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also Mr. Chidambaram’s lawyer, in a detailed tweet said the former Finance Minister could not be called an “absconder”.
He said Mr. Chidambaram was not a “proclaimed offender” and “there is no warrant” against him. Third, he had always attended ED and CBI summons.
“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 6.30 p.m. yesterday [Tuesday],” Mr. Singhvi said.
The Congress leaders said the CBI and ED action against Mr. Chidambaram reeked of double standards. Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma said the same agencies went silent when there were serious allegations against BJP leaders or those newly inducted in the BJP.
“There has not been even a whisper after some leaders facing investigations like Mukul Roy and Himanta Biswa Sharma joined the BJP. There cannot be double standards,” Mr. Sharma said.