Digvijay regrets row over his Chidambaram comments

LUCKNOW - Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh Thursday expressed regrets over the controversy created by his comments on Home Minister P. Chidambaram vis-a-vis Maoists.

“The home minister is a friend of mine and still remains one. Unfortunately, the government and the party had to face embarrassment over the issue. I regret that,” he told reporters here.

In an article in a newspaper, Digvijay Singh wrote that Chidambaram was “extremely intelligent, articulate, committed and sincere” but can be “extremely rigid once he makes up his mind”.

Clarifying his statement, he said: “I had written about the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh in tackling Naxalism (Maoism) and a nexus of the BJP leaders with Naxalites (Maoists). Ironically, my comment on Chidambaram was projected as controversial. I offer my regrets.”

He refused to talk about the claims of a Maoist leader that Digvijay Singh approached him last year through a Hyderabad-based Congress leader to explore the possibility of opening talks with the government.

“I know about him. But I don’t want to talk on this very sensitive issue,” the Congress leader said.