BJP, AIADMK demand Chidambaram's removal; Govt, Cong back him

New Delhi/Chennai, Jun 7: Turning the heat on Home Minister P

, BJP and the

today asked the Prime Minister to sack him immediately in the wake of the Madras High Court refusing to dismiss an election petition against him. Government and Congress came out in defence of Chidambaram, rejecting opposition demands for his resignation.

Gunning for Chidambaram, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said that he has no moral right to continue in office. "What more evidence does the Prime Minister need? Is this not enough evidence? On moral grounds, Chidambaram has no right to continue in office. He should have resigned earlier. We had boycotted him in Parliament, yet the Prime Minister did not take it seriously," Gadkari told reporters in Delhi.

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa targeted the Home Minister, saying his continuation in office would be a "blot on democracy". Chidambaram facing the charge of poll irregularities should resign forthwith and if he failed to do so, the Prime Minister should drop him from the Cabinet, she said.

"AIADMK's stand on the issue is that Chidambaram won the election in a fraudulent manner", the Chief Minister said in a statement.

Batting for Chidambaram, Law Minister Salman Khurshid ridiculed the BJP for demanding his resignation over the issue. "Should the Home Minister get a resignation printed because they demand it on a daily basis or should he give it on the internet? BJP wakes up in the morning and says that the Home Minister should resign.

The Madurai Bench of the High Court today refused to dismiss a petition challenging Chidambaram's election to the Lok Sabha from Sivaganga in 2009. It told the Home Minister to face the case and disposed of his plea seeking dismissal of the petition by AIADMK's Raja Kannappan, who lost the election.

PTI