Agencies/New Delhi


Home Minister P Chidambaram could face a civil trial over allegations that he broke voting rules during the 2009 general election, following a court ruling yesterday.
In a fresh blow to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s beleaguered government, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court refused to throw out charges lodged by the politician who lost the election to Chidambaram.
The home minister, one of India’s most high-profile public figures, is accused of “manipulating votes and indulging in corrupt practices” in the election, which was won overall by an alliance led by the Congress.
“The court has accepted the arguments made by the petitioner. He (Chidambaram) has to face trial now,” Sarvana Kumar, a lawyer representing petitioner Raja Kannappan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam, told reporters outside the court in Madurai.
Chidambaram, who is likely to challenge the ruling, has previously rigorously denied all allegations of corruption.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, from Sivaganga by a slender majority of 3,354 votes.
Chidambaram, a Congress politician, immediately faced calls to resign.
“I appeal to the prime minister to remove him from the cabinet,” Nitin Gadkari, the president of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said in New Delhi. “Chidambaram has no moral right to be in his post.”
“After manipulating the results of the Lok Sabha polls, and being attached to corruption cases one after the other, I want to ask what more evidence the prime minister needs against him,” he said.
Accusing the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi of supporting Chidambaram’s “corruption”, Gadkari said: “If he is not ousted, it means the Congress supports his corruption and the wrong means adopted by him to come to the Lok Sabha.”
Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK also demanded his resignation.
AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the prime minister should drop Chidambaram from his cabinet if he did not resign on his own.
She said Chidambaram had won the elections in a fraudulent manner.
“As he has to face the criminal case now it will be a blot on the country’s democracy if he continues in office. Hence Chidambaram without any further delay should resign.”
However, the Congress rejected the opposition demand saying the case was yet to be decided.
The Congress also advised the BJP to focus on its own infighting.
“He has not lost the case and it has not got anything to do with his functioning as the home minister or as a person,” Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said.
He said the Election Commission had declared Chidambaram elected.
Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi said: “The BJP should focus on infighting inside the party and introspect rather than targeting Chidambaram.”
“Some mistake is being made when you talk about a trial; it’s not a criminal trial. Maybe Chidambaram should keep printed resignation, or he can put it on Internet, because the BJP, as soon as they get up, ask for his resignation,” said Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
The Congress-led government has been buffeted by corruption scandals since 2009, including the 2G scam over mis-sold second-generation mobile licences and tainted contracts awarded for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The culture of graft in Indian public life has touched a chord among many voters, with an anti-corruption campaign by activist Anna Hazare last year triggering huge rallies of support across the country.