New Delhi: A large section of opposition leaders have chosen to be tight-lipped about former finance and home minister P. Chidambaram’s arrest on Wednesday night. Even as he was sent to CBI custody till August 26, not many leaders can be said to have come out wholeheartedly in his support. 

Given that the opposition from time to time has been making allegations of vendetta politics against the BJP, their silence in Chidambaram’s arrest is conspicuous. 

Till Thursday evening, only Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M.K. Stalin had come out wholeheartedly in support of Chidambaram. “I have clearly learnt that these (actions) are happening due to political vendetta,” Stalin told reporters at the DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ in Chennai. 

He also criticised the way the CBI forced their way into Chidambaram’s residence Wednesday evening, a police action similar to the sensational midnight arrest of Stalin’s father and the then DMK chief M. Karunanidhi in June 2001, when the police barged into his house and picked him up forcefully.

The usually aggressive Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was restrained in her response. When NDTV spoke to her, she said she believed that the “process (through which Chidambaram was arrested) is incorrect”. 

“I am not talking about legality matter. Chidambaram is a senior politician. He served as the country’s finance minister and the home minister. The manner in which was handled is very depressing. Democracy is crying today,” said Banerjee. 

Chidambaram’s arrest came a few days after the agencies sent summons to yet another opposition leader, Raj Thackeray. Almost all opposition parties in Maharashtra, including the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and other small parties, unequivocally decried what they called was the BJP-government’s move against Thackeray ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

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Congress, meanwhile, backed its senior leader. A large legal team has consistently been working on the case. However, despite the fact that it has sought support from opposition parties on Chidambaram’s arrest, which they have called 'illegal', not many have come forward in solidarity. 

This has led to speculations that many in the opposition also fear similar action against them, especially since many of them are facing corruption charges in pending cases. 

The Wire has reached out to leaders of Rashtriya Janata Dal, CPI(M), Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party for their response on the matter.

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