Home minister P. Chidambaram denounced the leaked cables and said they should not be dignified. Home minister P. Chidambaram denounced the leaked cables and said they should not be dignified.

P. Chidambaram on Friday came under fire in both the Houses of Parliament for his reported remark that India would have made more progress if it had only southern and western parts.

Many MPs demanded his removal as Union home minister, alleging that his remark - reportedly made during a conversation with US ambassador Timothy Roemer in 2009 and revealed by WikiLeaks - undermined national unity.

Chidambaram, however, denounced the alleged diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks. "Don't dignify the cables. But if you want me to comment, I denounce the cables," he said.

According to a report published in a national daily, the minister made the contentious observation when Roemer made an "introductory" call on him after taking charge from David Mulford.

The report in the English language daily says: "In passing, wrote Mr Roemer, Mr Chidambaram commented on the 'vast disparity' between southern India - which he called 'the entrepreneurial and business hub' - and the rest of the country." "The minister concluded that India could achieve 11-12 per cent growth if it were the South and West only, noting that the rest of the country 'held it back'." The report, however, added: "The home minister praised the chief ministers of Bihar, Orissa and Punjab, all of them non-Congress leaders." Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Sigh Yadav said Chidambaram had made the comments which were "against national unity" despite being the country's home minister.

Agitated SP members stormed the well of the House, forcing a 45-minute adjournment. When the House reassembled at 1 pm, SP members again started shouting slogans, demanding Chidambaram's removal.

Parliamentary affairs minister P. K. Bansal sought to cool tempers, saying the WikiLeaks contents should not be trusted. "Let WikiLeaks not leak the country," he said. "Mulayam Singh ji , you said yesterday you don't believe in WikiLeaks." His entreaties fell on deaf ears as Yadav and his party members, supported by some BJP and RJD MPs, demanded that home minister make a statement in the House on the issue.

Yadav said it was even more serious that the home minister had said so to a foreign ambassador.

He Yadav said Chidambaram's comment was "shameful" and demanded an apology from him.

P. C. Chacko, who was in the Chair, told Yadav he had brought to the notice of the House "a very important matter" and now he should take his seat. But SP members continued to shout slogans till the House was adjourned sine die.

In the Rajya Sabha, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said Chidambaram had insulted the country. "It (the remark) endangers national integrity," he said amid support from BJP, JD-U and RJD MPs. Deputy chairman Rahman Khan said the authenticity of the WikiLeaks content could not be trusted.