Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram has called upon the newly-elected MPs from the southern parts of the country to prevail upon their counterparts in the north to tread the path of the south to protect secular and democratic values.
Addressing a public meeting to thank the voters for electing his son and Congress candidate Karti P. Chidambaram as an MP here on Friday, he said that while the northern States overwhelmingly voted for the BJP-led front, the south stood firm against communalism, casteism and the BJP’s ‘pseudo nationalism’ to protect democracy and secularism.
The anti-BJP verdict given by the people of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry will go down in history, he said. Pointing out that the north and the south chose different paths by giving different verdicts in the election, Mr. Chidambaram said the south could not follow the north in its path, but can bring the north to its path. “This is the task before the newly-elected MPs from the south,” he said.
The 37 MPs from Tamil Nadu had the responsibility to lead from the front, he said, adding that they should not be cowed by the ‘brutal’ majority of the BJP in Parliament.
