P Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday dubbed a bill recently passed in Parliament to prevent unfair means in exams as without any use, alleging exams are being cancelled daily in states, including Maharashtra. Speaking at an event here on the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament, Chidambaram hit out at the BJP for claiming to have passed several bills though they merely passed "useless bills" without any debate. In the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and members all speak, while the Speaker issues rulings. Watching this makes one feel that being a Member of the State Assembly --Tamil Nadu-- is far better than being a Member of Parliament, he said. In Parliament, no such debate takes place, he claimed. The Leader of the Opposition is not permitted to speak, Ministers do not answer questions, members do not talk, and the Speaker simply instructs everyone to sit down without rendering rulings. The mos

Today's opinions examine P Chidambaram's critique of the Modi government's economic record, the CJP's political dilemma, Imran Khan's global support and the changing advertising landscape

P Chidambaram recalls how Rao and Manmohan Singh shaped the 1991 reforms and argues India now needs greater competition, openness and a revived WTO

As the agency faces a mounting judicial bottleneck, its heavy reliance on the controversial law is fuelling concerns

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it wants an expeditious trial against Congress leader P Chidambaram in two money laundering cases, Aircel-Maxis deal and INX Media, as it has submitted the required sanction for prosecution against the former Union finance minister before a designated court. The federal probe agency had filed a chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis case in 2018 and in the INX Media case in 2020 at the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi (Rouse Avenue) and the court took their separate cognisance in 2021. However, in November 2024, the Supreme Court directed (in the ED vs Bibhu Prasad Acharya case) that sanction for prosecution is mandatory in a PMLA chargesheet, similar to such an approval furnished while filing a chargesheet under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Subsequent to this judgement, many accused charged under PMLA challenged the proceedings in multiple legal forums, leading to a delay in the trial including in these ..

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday accused US President Donald Trump of indulging in the "weaponisation of tariffs" and said the move must be condemned. In a post on X, the former finance minister said he was not surprised that Trump was "desperately searching" for ways to re-impose tariffs after the US Supreme Court struck down the so-called reciprocal tariffs that he had announced on April 2, 2025. "What is surprising is that some commentators and BJP-leaning trolls are obliquely justifying the actions of Mr Trump to retain the tariffs in one way or other. "Do they realise that the tariffs severely disrupted trade and were contrary to the rule-based trading order that all countries desire? Do they realize that the tariffs hurt India's exports to the US?" he asked. Chidambaram said Trump's actions were condemned by all countries as "weaponisation of tariffs". "Post-judgement, what President Trump is attempting to do (under various other provisions of law) is also weaponisa

Opposition parties, including ruling dispensations in poll-bound West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, said the Budget fails on economic strategy, worsens fiscal stress on states, and undermines federalism

Chidambaram, who has served as the finance minister four times, said the Budget failed "the test of economic strategy and economic statesmanship"

The Congress leader highlighted that the practice was to write the title of the Bill in English words in the English version and in Hindi words in the Hindi version

Chidambaram emphasised that dog lovers' concerns are valid, but they must also acknowledge the gravity of the situation

He further said that India's Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $2,650 needs to double for it to get around the low-middle income group

Congress leader P Chidambaram said Operation Blue Star was not the right way to capture militants holed up in the Golden Temple in 1984, due to which the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, "paid with her life". "There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants but Operation Blue Star was the wrong way and I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake but the mistake was cumulative decision of the Army, intelligence, police and civil defence and you cannot completely blame Mrs Gandhi," the former home minister said during a book launch in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli on Saturday. Chidambaram made the remarks during a conversation with journalist and author Harinder Baweja on her book 'They Will Shoot You Madam: My Life Through Conflict' at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival. Operation Blue Star was a military operation held between June 1-10, 1984, to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the

Afghan FM Amir Muttaqi held a press meet at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi after talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, but only male journalists attended and no joint briefing was held

In a post on X, Chidambaram expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Modi misattributing the words to him

Former Home Minister P Chidambaram reveals that he considered taking active retaliatory action against Pakistan after Mumbai terror attacks and discussed this with then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

In a post on X late Wednesday, the former Union finance minister said the current GST design and rates should not have been introduced in the first place

Amid the raging row over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission is trying to change the electoral character and patterns of states, and asserted that this "abuse of powers" must be fought politically and legally. The former home minister said the Bihar voter revision exercise is getting curiouser and curiouser. While 65 lakh voters are in danger of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of 'adding' 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal, Chidambaram said in a post on X. "Calling them 'permanently migrated' is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice," the Rajya Sabha MP said. Why should the migrant worker not return to Bihar or his/her home state to vote in the State Assembly election, as they usually do, Chidambaram asked. "Does not the migrant

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday slammed as a "lie and distortion" Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks alleging delay in carrying out the death sentence for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The Congress leader's remarks came in response to Shah's statement in the Rajya Sabha that the death sentence for Guru could not be carried out for as long as Chidambaram was the home minister. In a statement, Chidambaram said, "Home Minister Mr Amit Shah made a statement in the Rajya Sabha that 'Afzal Guru could not be executed as long as P Chidambaram was Home Minister'. The statement is a mixture of insinuation, lie and distortion." After the conviction and sentence by the courts, Guru's wife filed, on his behalf, a mercy petition to the President of India in October 2006, Chidambaram said. "The President rejected the mercy petition on 3-2-2013. Afzal Guru was hanged six days later on 9-2-2013. I was Home Minister during 1-12-2008 and 31-7-2012," he said. "During the entire perio

Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused P Chidambaram, a previous incumbent of the ministry, of giving a "clean chit" to Pakistan in the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that it amounted to questioning India's attack on terror facilities in the country. Shah lashed out at the senior Congress leader as informed Lok Sabha during a discussion on the terror strike and Operation Sindoor that three terrorists killed by security forces in Kashmir on Monday were behind the horrific Pahalgam incident. He said the government had proof of the three being from Pakistan, including that the voter numbers of two of them. He added that they carried chocolates made in Pakistan, turning up the heat on the former home minister. The Congress leader, a Rajya Sabha member, Shah said, raised the questions when Parliament was to begin this discussion. "Whom do you want to save? What will you gain by shielding Pakistan?" In an interview, Chidambaram had raised questions on the claim that the terrorists

Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday accused the Congress and its leader P Chidambaram of "speaking the same language" as used by Pakistan and claimed that the Opposition was "running away" from a discussion in Parliament on Operation Sindoor out of fear of being unmasked. Speaking to reporters inside the Parliament complex, he said when the government is ready to discuss the issue then why is the Opposition running away from it. The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm on Monday amid opposition protests on the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, delaying the start of the discussion on Operation Sindoor. A political row erupted on Monday over Chidambaram's reported remarks that the terrorists behind the Pahalgam could have been "homegrown". "It was their demand only that a discussion should be held on Operation Sindoor. And, when the government is ready for discussion, why is it running away from it? The entire Opposition is not letting a discussion on terror and terrorism