Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945)
[, better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as ]Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the one of the two houses of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elect ...
. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs from 2017 to 2018.
Chidambaram has served as the Union Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
four times. Most recently, he held the role for the entirety of the United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
government from 2004 to 2014, except for a three-year period as Minister of Home Affairs, during which he oversaw India's domestic security response to the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Chidambaram returned as Finance Minister in July 2012, succeeding Pranab Mukherjee
Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
, who resigned to become the President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
.
Early life and education
Chidambaram was born to Kandanur L. Ct. L. Palaniappa Chettiar and Lakshmi Achi in Kanadukathan
Kanadukathan is a Town Panchayat in the Karaikudi taluk of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Demographics
In 2001, Kanadukathan had a population of 4,795 people. Of these, 10% were under 6 years of age. The town is evenly split between mal ...
in the Sivaganga district in the state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
, India. His maternal grandfather was Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar
'' Diwan Bahadur'' Sir Satappa Ramanatha Muttaiya Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chettinad KCSI (30 September 1881 – 15 June 1948) was an Indian industrialist, banker, educationist and philanthropist from Tamil Nadu. He is the founder of Anna ...
, a wealthy merchant and banker from Chettinad
Chettinad (also known as Chettinadu) is a region located mainly in the Sivaganga district historically ruled by Ramnad kingdom of Pandya Nadu and has a small portion extending into the Pudukottai District in Tamil Nadu, India..Karaikudi and ...
.
Chidambaram did his schooling at the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School
MCC Higher Secondary School (full name: Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School) is located in Chetpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1835 and has a long, and illustrious history, including having produced many citizens ...
, Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
he passed the one-year pre-University course from Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auton ...
. After graduating with a BSc degree in statistics from the Presidency College, Chennai
Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...
, he completed his Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
from the Madras Law College (now Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College) and his MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from Harvard Business School in the class of 1968. He also holds a master's degree from Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auton ...
.
During this time his politics inclined to the left and in 1969 he joined N. Ram, later an editor of ''The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'', and the women's activist Mythili Sivaraman
Mythili Sivaraman (14 December 1939 – 30 May 2021) was an Indian women's rights and trade union activist. She was a co-founder of All India Democratic Women's Association and leader in the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Through her writ ...
in starting a journal called the ''Radical Review''.
Chidambaram has two brothers and one sister.[P Chidambaram Biography – About family, political life, awards won, history]
Elections.in. Retrieved on 18 August 2016. His father's business interests covered textiles, trading and plantations in India. He chose to concentrate on his legal practice and stayed away from the family business.
He enrolled as a lawyer in the Madras High Court, becoming a senior advocate in 1984. He had offices in Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
and Chennai and practiced in the Supreme Court and various high courts of India.
Political career
Chidambaram was elected to the Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
(lower house) of the Indian Parliament
The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
from the Sivaganga
Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...
constituency of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
in general elections held in 1984. He was a union leader for MRF and worked his way up in the Congress party. He was the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress president and then the general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee unit. He was inducted into the Union (Indian federal) Council of Ministers in the government headed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 21 September 1985 as a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Commerce and then in the Ministry of Personnel. His main actions during his tenure in this period was to control the price of tea and he has been criticized by the Government of Sri Lanka for destroying the Sri Lankan tea trade by fixing the prices of the commodity in India using state power. He was elevated to the rank of Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in January 1986. In October of the same year, he was appointed to the Ministry of Home Affairs as Minister of State for Internal Security. He continued to hold both offices until general elections were called in 1989. The Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
government was defeated in the general elections of 1989.
In June 1991, Chidambaram was inducted as a Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce, by the then Prime Minister Mr P V Narasimha Rao; a post he held till July 1992. He was later re-appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce in February 1995 and held the post until April 1996. He made some radical changes in India's export-import (EXIM) policy, while at the Ministry of Commerce.
In 1996, Chidambaram quit the Congress party and joined a breakaway faction of the Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
state unit of the Congress party called the Tamil Maanila Congress
The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (; TMC(M)) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is founded by the former Member of Parliament of the Republic of India G. K. Moopanar on 29 March 1996 as a breakaway fact ...
(TMC). In the general elections held in 1996, TMC along with a few national and regional level opposition parties, formed a coalition government. The coalition government came as a big break for Chidambaram, who was given the key cabinet portfolio of Finance. His 1997 budget is still remembered as the dream budget for the Indian economy. The coalition government was a short-lived one (it fell in 1998), but he was reappointed to the same portfolio in the government formed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2004.
In 1998, the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
(BJP) took the reins of the government for the first time and it was not until May 2004 that Chidambaram would be back in government. Chidambaram became Minister of Finance again in the Congress party led United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
government on 24 May 2004. During the intervening period Chidambaram made some experiments in his political career, leaving the TMC in 2001 and forming his own party, the Congress Jananayaka Peravai, largely focused on the regional politics of Tamil Nadu. The party failed to take off into mainstream Tamil Nadu or national politics. Just before the elections of 2004, he merged his party with the mainstream Congress party and when the Congress won the election, he was inducted into the Council of Ministers under the new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as cabinet Minister of Finance.
On 30 November 2008, he was appointed the Union Home Minister
The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...
following the resignation of Shivraj Patil
Shivraj Vishwanath Patil (born 12 October 1935) is an Indian politician who was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administra ...
who had come under intense pressure to tender his resignation following a series of terror attacks in India, including the Mumbai attacks
Terrorism in India, according to the Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includes Islamic terrorism, separatist ...
on 26 November 2008.
He has been credited with taking the bold decision of prioritising elections above corporate demands to deploy security for the 2009 Indian Premier League
The 2009 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 2 or the 2009 IPL, was the second season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament was hosted by South Africa an ...
.
In 2009, Chidambaram was re-elected from the Sivaganga
Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...
Lok Sabha constituency in the Congress and retained the Home ministry. He was one of the representatives of the central government when a tri-party agreement was signed with the Gorkha Hill Council and the Government of West Bengal, an agreement which was a result of Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
's effort to end a decade long unrest in the hills of Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
.["Historic pact paves way for peace in Darjeeling hills"](_blank)
''The Times of India''. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
The Indian National Congress appointed P. Chidambaram as one of thirteen senior spokespersons on 15 September 2014.
He ceded his seat to his son Karti in 2014, which resulted in electoral defeat for his son. In 2016, he was elected as an MP of the Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
, the upper house of Indian parliament from the state of Maharashtra.
;Parliamentary Committee assignments
* 13 Sept. 2021 onwards: Member Committee on External Affairs.
Own party
Congress Jananayaka Peravai, formerly TMC Janayaka Peravai (Congress Democratic Front) was a political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
. It was founded in 2001 by former union finance minister P. Chidambaram, as a splinter group of the Tamil Maanila Congress
The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (; TMC(M)) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is founded by the former Member of Parliament of the Republic of India G. K. Moopanar on 29 March 1996 as a breakaway fact ...
, when the TMC allied itself with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...
. 2001 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The twelfth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 10 May 2001. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led front won the elections and its general secretary, J. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister, even though ...
P. Chidambaram other side Party DMK-BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
( NDA) Joint Meet to Assembly election.In October 2001, the party renamed itself as Congress Janayaka Peravai by dropping the TMC prefix.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections Chidambaram ran as the Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
candidate from Sivagangai, and won with 400 393 votes (60,01%).
On 25 November 2004 CJP merged into the Indian National Congress. Discussions about a merger had taken place during a long time, but the merger was resisted by the Tamil Nadu Congress leadership. In the end the merger was pushed through by the national Congress leadership.
Family and personal life
Chidambaram's mother, Lakshmi Acchi, was the daughter of Sir Annamalai Chettiar
''Diwan Bahadur'' Sir Satappa Ramanatha Muttaiya Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chettinad KCSI (30 September 1881 – 15 June 1948) was an Indian industrialist, banker, educationist and philanthropist from Tamil Nadu. He is the founder of Annama ...
, a banker and merchant, and was granted the title of ''Raja'' by British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. Annamalai Chettiar was the founder of Annamalai University
, logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg
, image = Annamalai University logo.png
, image_size = 225px
, motto = "With Courage and Faith"
, established =
, type ...
and United India Insurance Company
United India Insurance Company is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, & Government of India. Its headquarters is located in Chennai, India, and was incorporated on 18 February 1938. The company was ...
Limited. His brother, Ramaswami Chettiar, was the founder of the Indian Bank
Indian Bank is an Indian public sector bank, established in 1907 and headquartered in Chennai. It serves over 100 million customers with 39,734 employees, 5,721 branches with 5,428 ATMs and Cash deposit machines. Total business of the bank has ...
and the co-founder of another major bank, the Indian Overseas Bank
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is an Indian public sector bank based in Chennai. It has about 3,214 domestic branches, about 4 foreign branches and representative office. Founded in February 1937 by M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar with twin object ...
.
He is married to Nalini Chidambaram, daughter of Justice (Retd.) Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam
Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam (12 September 1915―10 August 1986) was a former Chief Justice of Madras High Court and Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Career
Kailasam was born in a Zamindar family of Salem district, Tamil Nadu. He passe ...
, of the Supreme Court, and Mrs. Soundra Kailasam, a renowned Tamil poet and author. Nalini Chidambaram is a senior advocate practising in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He has a son, Karti P. Chidambaram, who graduated with a BBA degree from the University of Texas, Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, and a Masters in Law from the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. Karti, a member of the Congress Party's AICC, is active in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
state politics. Karti is married to Dr. Srinidhi Rangarajan, a well-known Bharathanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...
dancer and medical doctor, working with the Apollo Group of Hospitals in Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Karti and Srinidhi have a daughter, Aditi Nalini Chidambaram.
Health Issues
He suffers from a medical condition referred to as crohn's disease.
Controversies
The Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) 1997, which he announced when he was Finance Minister with the United Front government, was condemned by the Controller and Auditor General of India as abusive because of the loopholes that made it possible to fudge data to the financial advantage of the confessor.
Chidambaram was criticised for his ministry's failure to prevent the 2011 Mumbai bombings
The 2011 Mumbai bombings, also known as 13/7, were a series of three coordinated bomb explosions at different locations in Mumbai, India, on 13 July 2011 between 18:54 and 19:06 IST. The blasts occurred at the Opera House, at Zaveri Bazaar an ...
, despite massive investments in security following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Three years after the 2008 attacks, security preparations were proven to be inadequate with channel breakdown and failures in modernising, procuring, and installing security equipment. Chidambaram defended the agencies under his ministry against the charge of intelligence failure with the response which was later ridiculed by many people in India and its media:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner in 2011 that data entry operators at Sivaganga had transferred 3,400 votes polled by Kannappan from 11 polling stations in Chidambaram's favour. News reports suggest that on May 16, 2009, the AIADMK candidate Raja Kannappan was declared elected by 3555 votes at 12.30 pm, and the news was also broadcast on television. But in a dramatic reversal a few hours later, P Chidambaram was declared elected by 3354 votes at 4.30 pm, and was confirmed as the winner after a recount at 8.30 pm.
On 7 April 2009, Chidambaram was assaulted
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
by Sikh journalist Jarnail Singh during a press conference in Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
on the issue of a "clean chit" to Jagdish Tytler
Jagdish Tytler (born Jagdish Kapoor; 17 August 1944) is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament. He has held several government positions, the last being as Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs, a post from which he resigne ...
. Singh, who writes for the Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
daily newspaper ''Dainik Jagaran
''Dainik Jagran'' ( Hi:दैनिक जागरन , , ) is an Indian Hindi language daily newspaper.
It was ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in India by circulation in 2016. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Daini ...
'' was dissatisfied with Chidamabaram's answer to a question on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) "clean chit" regarding Jagdish Tytler's involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...
. It was the first shoe throwing incident in India.
Chidambaram was part of Vedanta's legal team and on its board before becoming finance minister in 2004 2 In 2002, a year before UK's Financial Services Authority allowed Sterlite to reconstitute itself as Vedanta Resources Plc, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) served a show-cause notice on three of Chairman Anil Agarwal's family. The notice was a demand that Sterlite directors answer allegations about using their holding companies-Volcan and Twinstar-to avoid paying taxes on forex transactions. It was a polite way of saying there was prima facie evidence, dating back to 1993, that the Agarwals were guilty of money laundering. For seven years the case dragged on in courts as Sterlite employed top lawyers to use every possible delaying tactic. P. Chidambaram argued in Sterlite's defence in a 2003 Bombay High Court case related to the ED's allegations. The following year, Chidambaram found himself appointed non-executive director on the board of Vedanta Resources Plc. And very soon, he became finance minister in UPA 1.
Former Union Minister and Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani's letter to Chidambaram on 6 December 2013 accused him of acting in collusion with the NDTV and laundering Rs 5000 crores of money through Mauritius route back to India.
INX Media, Aircel-Maxis case
In 2006, political leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy alleged that a company controlled by Karti Chidambaram, the son of Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
P. Chidambaram, received a five-percent share of Aircel to get part of 40 billion paid by Maxis Communications
Maxis Communications or Maxis Berhad is a communications service provider in Malaysia. It is one of the oldest and largest telecommunications companies in the country. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it provides a variety of communica ...
for the 74-percent share of Aircel. According to Swamy, Chidambaram withheld Foreign Investment Promotion Board
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of Government of India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route. India attract net inward foreign d ...
clearance of the deal until his son received the five-percent share in Siva's company. The issue was raised a number of times in Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
by the opposition, which demanded Chidambaram's resignation. Although Chidambaram and the then ruling Congress government denied the allegations, '' The Pioneer'' and ''India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new o ...
'' reported the existence of documents showing that Chidambaram delayed approval of the foreign direct investment proposal by about seven months. It was alleged that Chidambaram's son, Karti was a direct beneficiary of the 2G spectrum case. His company, Advantage Strategic Consulting had a five per cent stake in Aircel Televentures, even as his father P Chidambaram, as Finance minister, was alleged to have offered FIPB clearance for the Aircel-Maxis deal only if his son's company, Advantage Strategic Consulting, got shares in Aircel Ventures. The Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating his involvement in Aircel deal. In 2012, and, subsequently, in 2016, information of wide-scale corruption by Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram and Robert Vadra
Robert Vadra (born 18 April 1969) is an Indian businessman, entrepreneur and the husband of Priyanka Gandhi. He is the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi and the brother-in-law of Rahul Gandhi.
Early life and family
Robert Vadra was born to Rajendra a ...
, with the help of his father's position, including through the Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...
–Maxis
Maxis is an American video game developer and a division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by EA in 1997. Maxis is best known for its simulation games, including '' The Sims ...
deal and the Uttar Pradesh NRHM scam, was unveiled in prominent newspapers and media in India. Simultaneously, Chidambaram and his son Karti have been dogged with allegations of corruption, misuse of position, insider trading and money laundering.
Imprisonment
On 20 August 2019, the Delhi High Court dismissed both anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambaram in connection with corruption charges in the INX Media case during his tenure as Finance minister in UPA Government. On 21 August, he appeared at the Congress HQ and addressed a press conference stating that he was "not accused"; however, he left the place, and, later, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India. It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Gover ...
at his home. On 5 September 2019, Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against rejection of anticipatory bail plea by Delhi High Court. The Special Court ordered Chidambaram to stay in judicial custody in Tihar Jail
Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one ...
for 14 days. On 4 December he was granted bail by the supreme court.
Books, research papers and journals
Chidambaram is a published author of several books.
Books
* ''Fearless in Opposition: Power and Accountability'' (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; )
* ''Standing Guard: A Year in Opposition'' (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; )
* ''Speaking Truth to Power: My Alternative View'' (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; )
* ''Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India'' (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; )
* ''A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone'' (Publisher: Penguin India; )
Books featuring Chidambaram
* ''An Agenda for India's Growth: Essays in Honour of P. Chidambaram'' (Publisher: Academic Foundation; )
See also
* Outcome Budget: 2005–06
* 2G spectrum case
References
External links
Cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
''Prime Ministers Office, Archived''
Profile
at ''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
''
Interview
with '' Charlie Rose'' in April 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chidambaram, P.
1945 births
Living people
People from Tamil Nadu
India MPs 1984–1989
India MPs 1989–1991
India MPs 1991–1996
India MPs 1996–1997
India MPs 1998–1999
India MPs 2004–2009
India MPs 2009–2014
Harvard Business School alumni
Indian National Congress politicians
Tamil Maanila Congress politicians
Indian Hindus
Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu
Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu
Presidency College, Chennai alumni
Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu
University of Madras alumni
Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra
People from Sivaganga district
Indian prisoners and detainees
Inmates of Tihar Jail
Finance Ministers of India
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Ministers of Internal Affairs of India
Commerce and Industry Ministers of India
Prisoners and detainees of India