Congress leadership miffed with Chidambaram over remarks on Operation Bluestar
Party sources say senior leaders must show restraint and avoid remarks that could embarrass Congress, stressing such controversies cannot become a habit
The Congress leadership was "very upset" with former Home Minister P Chidambaram over his remarks on 'Operation Bluestar', and believed that senior leaders like him must be careful before making public statements that could embarrass the party, sources said on Sunday (October 12).
Chidambaram, while speaking at Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday (October 11), said that Operation Bluestar was "wrong" and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi "paid the price with her life for that mistake".
Also read: 40 years after Operation Bluestar, Punjab still restless and rudderless
Party sources said the Congress leadership was of the view that "senior leaders, who have received everything from the Congress party, should be more careful in making statements that could embarrass the national party. This cannot become a habit".
They said senior leaders should be cautioned when making public statements, as repeated remarks of this nature create problems for the party, which is unacceptable.
Controversy brews over comments
"The top party leadership and the entire party are very upset. The rank and file of the party are agitated and question why this has been happening repeatedly," the sources said, referring to P Chidambaram’s recent controversial remarks about the party.
Earlier at the event, Chidambaram, a Rajya Sabha MP, while in conversation with journalist and author Harinder Baweja on her book 'They Will Shoot You Madam: My Life Through Conflict', said: "There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants, but Operation Blue Star was the wrong way. I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake. However, the mistake was a cumulative decision of the Army, Intelligence, Police and Civil Defence, and you cannot completely blame it on Mrs Gandhi."
Also read: 1984 to 2024: Lessons for India from Operation Blue Star, 40 years on
Operation Bluestar was a military operation carried out between June 1 and June 10, 1984, to remove the Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militants from the premises of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Later in the same year, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31.