Congress reacts to Chidambaram's arrest; says it is an attempt to silence him

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday criticised the BJP government for pursuing vendetta politics against the party's leaders and said former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram was arrested as he was vocal on corruption by the saffron party leaders.

The way Chidambaram was arrested late on Wednesday night is undemocratic and completely unacceptable, he told PTI.

The former Union minister had always cooperated with CBI during the investigation. "The sole intention is to malign P. Chidambaram and the Congress," he said.

Continuing his attack, Chowdhury said the "Proactive CBI becomes an inactive probe agency when it comes to investigation of graft cases against BJP leaders.

"This is nothing but vendetta politics against Congress leaders. Chidambaram was targeted as he was very vocal on the issues of corruption and misdeeds of BJP leaders. The arrest is an attempt to intimidate and silence him and other opposition leaders," the Congress lawmaker said.

Chidambaram was arrested amid dramatic scenes from his home at Jor Bagh in Delhi on Wednesday night. Chidambaram, who was home minister in the UPA government, spent the night after his arrest at the CBI headquarters on Lodhi Road.

"It is strange that the CBI becomes proactive while investigating graft cases of opposition leaders. But when it comes to probing graft cases against BJP leaders such as in the Bellary scam, Vyapyam scam, Rafale and many more, the investigating agencies become inactive. There is virtually no progress in these cases," he alleged.

"This only shows how BJP is using the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate as a political weapon to serve its own purposes," he added.