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Headlines

Sonia, Manmohan visit Tihar to meet Chidambaram

New Delhi, Sep 23 

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday arrived at Tihar Jail here to meet former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who has been imprisoned since September 5 in the INX Media case.

This is for the first time that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh visited the jail premises to meet any party leader lodged there.

Tihar Jail Director General Sandeep Goyal told the media, "They (Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh) will be meeting Chidambaram around 9.30 a.m."

According to party leaders, the meeting of the senior Congress leaders lasted for half an hour.

Besides Sonia and Manmohan, Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram also arrived at the jail premises.

After the meeting, Chidambaram, through his family thanked the party leadership for meeting him and said as long as the Congress is strong and brave, "I will also be strong and brave".

"I have asked my family to tweet on my behalf the following: I am honoured that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh called on me today. As long as the Congress party is strong and brave, I will also be strong and brave," he said in a series of tweets.

In an apparent jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks in Houston that everything is fine in India, Chidambaram said, "Everything is fine in India. Except for unemployment, loss of existing jobs, lower wages, mob violence, lockdown in Kashmir and throwing Opposition leaders in prison."

Chidambaram has been lodged in Jail No. 7 of the Tihar jail, which is meant for economic offenders.

The former Union minister was sent to judicial custody by a Delhi court after his arrest on August 21 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged irregularities in granting Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance of Rs 305 crore to INX Media, now known as 9x news, during his tenure as Finance Minister.

Chidambaram is also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case relating to INX Media.

The Congress had accused the BJP-led central government of indulging in political vendetta.