By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Thursday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) demand for Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s resignation after the Madras High Court refused to dismiss an election petition against him. The case was yet to be decided, the Congress said.
The Congress also advised the BJP to focus on its own in-fighting.
“He has not lost the case and it has not got anything to do with his functioning as the home minister or as a person,” said Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh.
He noted that the Election Commission of India had declared Chidambaram elected.
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: “BJP should focus on infighting inside the party and introspect rather than targeting Chidambaram.”
“Some mistake is being made when you talk about trial; it’s not a criminal trial. Maybe Chidambaram should keep printed resignation, or he can put it on internet, because BJP, as soon as they get up, ask for his resignation,” said Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
The BJP Thursday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Chidambaram after the court’s ruling.
Chidambaram was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu by 3,300 votes against the AIADMK’s Raja Kannapan.
Kannapan approached the court, accusing the minister’s supporters of manipulating the votes.
Chidambaram had requested that the case be quashed. However, the court Thursday refused to dismiss the petition.