Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman drew parallels between Chidambaram and former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif who has been barred from holding public office for life for not disclosing assets abroad.
The BJP on Sunday targeted former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his family's "undeclared assets in foreign countries," after which the Congress hit back by saying that the BJP had no moral right to ask questions and should instead give answers on various issues.
The opposition party termed the Income Tax (I-T) Department "another caged bird" that does the government's bidding.
Addressing a press conference here, Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman drew parallels between Chidambaram's case and that of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who has been barred from holding public office for life by that country's Supreme Court for not disclosing assets abroad.
Terming it as the "Nawaz Sharif moment of the Congress," she said: "In this (Chidambaram's) case, the parallels are hard to miss. Therefore, I am wondering if the Congress President - who himself is also out on bail in a financial matter - will comment and tell people if he is going to investigate one of his senior leaders (Chidambaram) for not disclosing assets held abroad."
Her comment came after the Income Tax department informed a special court in Chennai that Chidambaram's wife Nalini, son Karti and daughter-in-law Srinidhi didn't disclose their foreign assets and investments while filing their income tax returns.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, too, attacked Chidambaram and the Congress leadership.
In a tweet, Shah said that under the law dealing in black money, four charge sheets had been filed against Chidambaram and his family for "possessing and operating several illegal assets and accounts in foreign countries".
"The Income Tax Department estimates illegal assets held by UPA's then Finance Minister to be to the tune of $3 billion! This explains why despite the Supreme Court's orders, Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram dragged their feet on the formation of SIT. How could they indict their own selves?" Shah tweeted.
He said that the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to track and curb black money was one of the first decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government.
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