CHENNAI: Congress allies from Tamil Nadu have not been very forthcoming in condemning the arrest of former Union Minister P Chidambaram. Allies such as DMK, MDMK, CPI and KMDK have not issued an official statement after the arrest.
DMK chief Stalin, who tweeted about Madras Day on Thursday, made no official statement through his Twitter account about the arrest. However, he did speak on the issue when quizzed by reporters. Interestingly, many DMK supporters tweeted recounting the 2011 raids at DMK headquarters when Chidambaram was the Home Minister.
Karate Thiagarajan, a vocal loyalist of Chidambaram, did not fail to speak out on the issue. “Stalin didn’t strongly condemn the arrest and illegal actions of CBI despite Chidambaram being the face of Tamil Nadu Congress. He was taken into custody on Wednesday at 8.30 pm. But Stalin only on Thursday around 2 pm spoke on the issue and that too only after the reporters raised the question. Even then he did not make a strong statement to condemn the arrest. This is not alliance ethics,” he told Express.
Stalin, on Thursday when queried by the reporters, gave a brief reply that the arrest of Chidambaram was condemnable and that the CBI officers climbing the compound wall of the house was an insult to the country. Among the Congress’ allies in Tamil Nadu, only VCK and CPM issued statements categorically condemning the arrest of Chidambaram. When contacted by Express, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan, admitted that the party did not issue any statement, but said he views the arrest as a “malicious act”.
Meanwhile, the DMK supporters were sharing social media messages almost celebrating the arrest of Chidambaram. One Udhayakumar, an active DMK supporter on social media told Express, “Not just me. Thousands of DMK cadres are rejoicing the arrest of Chidambaram.
He is the reason behind Kanimozhi and A Raja landing in Tihar jail in the 2G case. He took severe efforts to brand DMK as a corrupt party by using the 2G case during the 2011 assembly general election,” he said.
Many recollected how even as the seat-sharing talks between Congress and DMK were going on ahead of the 2011 elections, CBI raided the party’s headquarters where Kalaignar TV was functioning.
200 Congress cadre held
CHENNAI: Around 200 Congress cadre including former TNCC presidents M Krishnaswamy and Kumari Ananthan, were arrested on Thursday morning when they tried to stage a demonstration against P Chidambaram’s arrest, in Chennai. They gathered at the Sathya Moorthi Bhavan on Thursday morning and later, marched towards Royapettah clock tower.
However, the police prevented them from holding a demonstration, following which, a section of Congress cadre squatted on the road and blocked vehicular traffic. Later, they were detained at a Corporation community hall. The protest affected the traffic in the area for a while.