india

Updated: Jun 19, 2020 17:07 IST

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that has been under attack from Congress leaders over the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday struck back, accusing the opposition of trying to “convert corruption into a revolution”. Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi led the charge, telling news agency PTI that the Congress was working with a negative mindset.

“They have converted corruption into a revolution. This is for the first time that corruption is becoming a revolution. Till now, revolution was against corruption, now revolution is being carried out in favour of corruption,” Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told news agency PTI.

The senior minister was responding to a string of attacks from the Congress that had gone on the offensive over the senior politician’s arrest on the basis of what the opposition party described as testimony of a woman accused of killing her daughter. It was a reference to INX Media co-founder Indrani Mukerjea who told the CBI last year that a deal of $1 million was struck between Karti Chidambaram and the Mukerjeas for getting approvals for foreign funding.

The Congress also echoed Chidambaram who had, 90 minutes before his arrest at the CBI headquarters, underscored that his innocence and underscored that he hadn’t been hiding as many believed but “seeking protection of the law”.

Before his arrest, Chidambaram’s legal team had twice approached the Supreme Court to request an early hearing to his petition for protection against arrest. But the court decided to hear the petition only on Friday. In his appeal minutes before he was picked up, Chidambaram had asked that the CBI take action against him only after the top court delivered its verdict on his request for interim bail.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the authorities were just doing their work.

“Law enforcement agencies will do their work and courts will do their own work. But, the Congress party and its leadership is trying to convert corruption into a revolution,” he said, according to PTI.

Satya Pal Singh, the junior education minister, on the other hand, accused Chidambaram of not respecting law of the land and thwarting arrests. “What happened was not good, had he surrendered earlier, his dignity would have remained intact,” Satya Pal Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner told news agency ANI.

Singh said Chidambaram’s “dignity would have remained intact, had he surrendered earlier’.

“Chidambaram ji is a former Union Finance and Home Minister. He is an intellectual and very well knows the law”, he added, underlining that “no one can run away from the law”.

Chidambaram, one of the key ministers during ten years of UPA regime, was taken to headquarters of the probe agency after CBI officials scaled the boundary walls of his residence in Jor Bagh on Wednesday night to arrest him in connection with the INX Media case.