The Congress has defended Finance Minister P Chidrambaram on the issue of the appointment of his wife Nalini Chidambaram by the Central Board of Direct Taxes as senior counsel.
The Congress criticised the Bhartiya Janata Party for disrupting the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha and preventing discussion on important Bill, like the one on domestic violence against women.
Addressing a news conference in New Delhi on Monday, Anand Sharma, spokesman for the party said, that as far as they are concerned they are satisfied with the explanation of the finance minister.
"The minister gave a personal explanation in the House under rule 141 and he said that he was not aware of the appointment. We should leave it at that," Sharma said.
BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj took out copy of a report from rediff.com in which Nalini Chidambaram said that she liked P Chidambaram, the man. "If any one has doubt that the couple was not on speaking terms then they should read Nailini Chidambaram's interview in rediff.com. When asked whether she like him as a finance minister, advocate or PC as man, she had said that she liked Chidambaram the man. This should clear all doubts," she said.
She wondered how can Chidambaram claim that he did not know about the appointment. "If they (Chidambaram and his wife) were not on speaking terms, no officer of CBDT would dare appoint her as senior counsel fearing the wrath of the finance minister," she said with a giggle.
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