Chidambaram hits back at Sitharaman, says she will be ‘removed as Defence Minister'

Sitharaman also asked if Congress president Rahul Gandhi would investigate the issue involving his party's senior leader.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday hit back at Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her "Nawaz Sharif moment" remark. Taking a jibe at Sitharaman, Chidambaram said that the former would be removed as Defence Minister and appointed as appointed a lawyer of the Income Tax Department.

Chidambaram's dig on Twitter came soon after the Defence Minister wondered if the filing of charge sheets by the I-T department against his family members was the Congress party's "Nawaz Sharif moment". The Defence Minister was referring to the Pakistan Supreme Court's decision disqualifying its former prime minister from holding office because of non-disclosure of assets and income earned abroad.

"For some time now we have been hearing a lot of action by the I-T authorities against former finance minister P Chidambaram and his family. In India, for the Congress party, this is the Nawaz Sharif moment," Sitharaman said at a media conference in Delhi.

Sitharaman also asked if Congress president Rahul Gandhi would investigate the issue involving his party's senior leader.

The Income Tax department on May 11 filed chargesheets against Chidambaram's wife Nalini, son Karti, daughter-in-law Srinidhi and a firm under the Black Money Act for allegedly not disclosing their foreign assets.

Chidambaram, responding to Sitharaman's comments, reminded the ruling BJP of its failure to bring back black money from abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every Indian's bank account, as promised by it before the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

"The buzz in Delhi is that Ms Nirmala Sitharaman will be removed as Defence Minister and appointed as lawyer of the Income-tax department. Welcome to the bar, Ms Sitharaman,"he tweeted.

"The president of the richest political party in India is dreaming of billions of dollars! Bring the money back and put Rs 15 lakhs in the account of every Indian as you promised," he said in another tweet, without naming BJP president Amit Shah.

The family of the former finance minister had said the Income Tax Department (ITD) chargesheets against them under the black money law were "baseless allegations" as the overseas investments under question had been reflected in their IT returns.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs