Congress cries foul, says Karti Chidambaram’s arrest a bid to deflect attention from scams
By Express News Service | Published: 01st March 2018 07:21 AM |
Last Updated: 01st March 2018 07:21 AM | A+A A- |
Karti Chidambaram, son of former union minister P Chidambaram, being escorted to the Patiala House court in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI
NEW DELHI, CHENNAI: The Congress cried vendetta and said the arrest of Karti Chidambaram was an attempt by the Modi government to deflect public attention from scams worth `31,000 crore that have been unearthed over the past 10 days.
Several Congress leaders, including the party’s communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala, Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, spoke out against Karti Chidambaram’s arrest.
“Modi government’s mask of corruption crusader lies in shambles with successive scams getting uncovered over past 45 months and zero action taken against fraudsters,” Congress communication chief Randeep Surjewala said referring to the escapes of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, industrialist Vijay Mallya and PNB fraud accused Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Adding the Rotomac bank scam of `3,695 crore and defrauding of OBC of `390 crore by Dwarka Dass Seth International Private Limited to the list of scams, Surjewala said, “No wonder, flout, fleece and fly is the new culture.”
Sibal challenged the agencies to produce evidence against Karti Chidambaram. “They are always misusing the law,” he said.
Accusing the probe agencies like CBI and ED of playing into the hands of the government, the Congress said its leadership will not be deterred and will keep asking the government to hold itself accountable in people’s court.
“Political persecution of P Chidambaram and arrest of his son Karti Chidambaram by a puppet CBI acting to serve the agenda of its political masters is nothing but a cog in the wheel of crony capitalism,” he added.
Meanwhile in Chennai, condemning the arrest of Karti, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president S Thirunavukkarasar said it was a politically motivated act aimed at stifling the voice of Chidambaram.
“The Centre has misused the CBI with the motive of stifling the voice of Chidambaram, who has been pointing out the wrong-doings of the BJP-led government through writing and speech,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
