News Brief
Congress Leader P Chidambaram Calls BJP A "Formidably Organised" Party, Expresses Doubts About INDI Alliance’s Cohesion
Congress leader P Chidambaram.
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday (15 May) called the BJP a "formidably organised" party, while expressing uncertainty over the current state of the INDI alliance.
At the launch of ‘Contesting Democratic Deficit’ by Salman Khurshid and Mritunjay Singh Yadav, Chidambaram said the INDI alliance appeared frayed and uncertain.
“The future (of INDIA bloc) is not so bright, as Mritunjay Singh Yadav said. He seems to feel that the alliance is still intact, but I am not sure," Chidambaram said at the event, News18 reported.
“It is only Salman (Khurshid) who can answer, because he was a part of the negotiating team for the INDIA bloc," he added.
“If the alliance is totally intact, I will be very happy, but it shows at the seams that it is frayed," Chidambaram said.
The senior Congress leader added that he hoped that the alliance can “still be put together, there’s still time".
“In my experience and my reading of history, there has been no political party so formidably organised as the BJP. In every department, it's formidable. It’s not just another political party. It’s a machine behind a machine, and the two machines control all the machineries in India," he said.
“From the Election Commission to the lowest police station in the country, they (BJP) are able to control and sometimes capture these institutions. It is a formidable machinery, as much as can be allowed in a democracy," Chidambaram said.
The former Union Finance Minister’s remarks came in context of the book’s exploration of Congress’s attempts at revival ahead of the previous Lok Sabha elections.
Chidambaram said that poll results have shown that no one can undermine elections in India, which “still remains an electoral democracy".
