P. Chidambaram
Template:Short description Template:Indian patronymic Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945),<ref name=bio/> better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.<ref>Piyush Goyal, Chidambaram, Suresh Prabhu, Sharad Yadav elected to Rajya Sabha – The Economic Times Template:Webarchive. Economictimes.indiatimes.com (3 June 2016). Retrieved on 2016-08-18.</ref> He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs from 2017 to 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also served as Interim Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha from 2022 to 2023 under Mallikarjun Kharge.
Chidambaram has served as the Union Minister of Finance four times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most recently, he held the role for the entirety of the United Progressive Alliance government from 2004 to 2014, except for a three-year period as Minister of Home Affairs, during which he oversaw India's domestic security response to the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Chidambaram returned as Finance Minister in July 2012, succeeding Pranab Mukherjee, who resigned to become the President of India. He was included in Time 100 list in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He was also the head of Congress Manifesto Committee for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and 2024 Indian General Elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and education
Chidambaram was born to Kandanur L. Ct. L. Palaniappa Chettiar and Lakshmi Achi at Kanadukathan in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. His maternal grandfather was Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, a wealthy merchant and banker from Chettinad.<ref>Chidambaram, Wife Own Assets Worth Over Rs 20 Crore. news.outlookindia.com (23 April 2009). Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref>
Chidambaram did his schooling at the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, Chennai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He then passed the one-year Pre-university course from Loyola College, Chennai. After graduating with a BSc degree in Statistics from the Presidency College, Chennai, he completed his Bachelor of Laws from the Madras Law College (Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College) and his MBA from Harvard Business School in the class of 1968. He also holds a Master's degree from Loyola College, Chennai.<ref>Meg Berté (MBA '00) – December 2005 – Alumni Bulletin – Harvard Business School Template:Webarchive. Alumni.hbs.edu. Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref>
During this time, his politics inclined to the left and in 1969 he joined N. Ram, later an editor of The Hindu, and the women's activist Mythili Sivaraman in starting a journal called the Radical Review.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Chidambaram has two brothers and one sister.<ref name=bio>P Chidambaram Biography – About family, political life, awards won, history Template:Webarchive. Elections.in. Retrieved on 18 August 2016.</ref> His father's business interests covered textiles, trading and plantations in India. He chose to concentrate on his legal practice and stayed away from the family business.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Chidambaram enrolled as a lawyer in the Madras High Court, becoming a senior advocate in 1984. He had offices in Delhi and Chennai and practiced in the Supreme Court and various high courts of India.
Political career
Chidambaram was elected to the Lok Sabha (lower house) of the Indian Parliament from the Sivaganga constituency of Tamil Nadu in general elections held in 1984. He was a union leader for MRF and worked his way up in the Congress party. He was the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress president and then the general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee unit. He was inducted into the Union (Indian federal) Council of Ministers in the government headed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 21 September 1985 as a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Commerce and then in the Ministry of Personnel. His main actions during his tenure in this period was to control the price of tea and he has been criticized by the Government of Sri Lanka for destroying the Sri Lankan tea trade by fixing the prices of the commodity in India using state power. He was elevated to the rank of Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in January 1986. In October of the same year, he was appointed to the Ministry of Home Affairs as Minister of State for Internal Security. He continued to hold both offices until general elections were called in 1989. The Indian National Congress government was defeated in the general elections of 1989.
In June 1991, Chidambaram was inducted as a Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce, by the then Prime Minister Mr P V Narasimha Rao; a post he held till July 1992. He was later re-appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce in February 1995 and held the post until April 1996. He made some radical changes in India's export-import (EXIM) policy, while at the Ministry of Commerce.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1996, Chidambaram quit the Congress party and joined a breakaway faction of the Tamil Nadu state unit of the Congress party called the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). In the general elections held in 1996, TMC along with a few national and regional level opposition parties, formed a coalition government.
Ministry of Finance
The coalition government came as a big break for Chidambaram, who was given the key cabinet portfolio of Finance. His 1997 budget is still remembered as the dream budget<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> for the Indian economy. The coalition government was a short-lived one (it fell in 1998), but he was reappointed to the same portfolio in the government formed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2004.
In 1998, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took the reins of the government for the first time and it was not until May 2004 that Chidambaram would be back in government. Chidambaram became Minister of Finance again in the Congress party led United Progressive Alliance government on 24 May 2004. During the intervening period Chidambaram made some experiments in his political career, leaving the TMC in 2001 and forming his own party, the Congress Jananayaka Peravai, largely focused on the regional politics of Tamil Nadu. The party failed to take off into mainstream Tamil Nadu or national politics. After the elections of 2004, when the Congress won the election he was inducted into the Council of Ministers under the new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as cabinet Minister of Finance and he merged his party with the mainstream Congress party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ministry of Home Affairs
On 30 November 2008, he was appointed the Union Home Minister following the resignation of Shivraj Patil who had come under intense pressure to tender his resignation following a series of terror attacks in India, including the Mumbai attacks on 26 November 2008.
He has been credited with taking the bold decision of prioritising elections above corporate demands to deploy security for the 2009 Indian Premier League.<ref>A victory for the terrorist? Template:Webarchive. The Hindu. Retrieved 1 November 2011.</ref>
In 2009, Chidambaram was re-elected from the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency in the Congress and retained the Home ministry.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was one of the representatives of the central government when a tri-party agreement was signed with the Gorkha Hill Council and the Government of West Bengal, an agreement which was a result of Mamata Banerjee's effort to end a decade long unrest in the hills of Darjeeling.<ref name="indiatimes1">"Historic pact paves way for peace in Darjeeling hills". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 November 2011.</ref>
The Indian National Congress appointed P. Chidambaram as one of thirteen senior spokespersons on 15 September 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He ceded his seat to his son Karti in 2014, which resulted in electoral defeat for his son.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, he was elected as an MP of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament from the state of Maharashtra.
- Parliamentary Committee assignments
- 13 September 2021 onwards: Member Committee on External Affairs.<ref name="Committee on External Affairs">Template:Cite web</ref>
Elections Contested
Lok Sabha Elections Contested
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes % | Opponent | Votes % | Result | Margin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Sivaganga | Template:Party name with color | 68.10 | Template:Party name with color | Tha. Kiruttinan | 51.60 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | ||
| 1989 | 65.86 | A. Ganesan | 32.26 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | |||||
| 1991 | 67.49 | V. Kasinathan | 29.12 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | |||||
| 1996 | Template:Party name with color | 64.79 | Template:Party name with color | M. Gowri Shankaran | 26.53 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | |||
| 1998 | 51.15 | Template:Party name with color | K. Kalimuthu | 41.19 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | ||||
| 1999 | 20.85 | Template:Party name with color | E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan | 40.23 | Template:No2 | Template:No2 | ||||
| 2004 | Template:Party name with color | 60.01 | Template:Party name with color | S. P. Karuppiah | 35.62 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | |||
| 2009 | 43.17 | Raja Kannappan | 42.74 | Template:Yes2 | Template:Yes2 | |||||
Rajya Sabha
| Position | Party | Constituency | From | To | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (1st Term) |
Template:Party name with color | Maharashtra | 5 July 2016 |
16 June 2022 |
Template:Ayd | |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2nd Term) |
Tamil Nadu | 30 June 2022 |
29 June 2028 |
Template:Ayd | ||
Positions held
Family and personal life
Chidambaram's mother, Lakshmi Acchi, was the daughter of Sir Annamalai Chettiar, a banker and merchant, and was granted the title of Raja by the British. Annamalai Chettiar was the founder of Annamalai University and United India Insurance Company Limited. His brother, Ramaswami Chettiar, was the founder of the Indian Bank and the co-founder of the Indian Overseas Bank.<ref>M.Ct.M Group Education and Business Activities Template:Webarchive. Mctmib.org. Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref><ref>Tamil Nadu / Sivaganga News : IOB founder’s birth centenary celebrated. The Hindu (4 August 2008). Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref><ref>Chennainagarathar.com Template:Webarchive. Chennainagarathar.com. Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref><ref>Welcome to Annamalai University Template:Webarchive. Annamalaiuniversity.ac.in. Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref><ref>Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar | Nagarathar Sangam of North America Template:Webarchive. Achi.org. Retrieved 16 August 2011.</ref>
He is married to Nalini Chidambaram, daughter of Justice (Retd.) Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam and Mrs. Soundra Kailasam, a renowned Tamil poet and author. Nalini Chidambaram is a senior advocate practising in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He has a son, Karti P. Chidambaram, who graduated with a BBA degree from the University of Texas, Austin, and a Masters in Law from the University of Cambridge. Karti, a member of the Congress Party's AICC, is active in Tamil Nadu state politics. Karti is married to Dr. Srinidhi Rangarajan, a well-known Bharathanatyam dancer and medical doctor, working with the Apollo Group of Hospitals in Chennai. Karti and Srinidhi have a daughter, Aditi Nalini Chidambaram.
Health Issues
He suffers from Crohn's disease.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Controversies
Template:Criticism section The Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) 1997, which he announced when he was Finance Minister with the United Front government, was condemned by the Controller and Auditor General of India as abusive because of the loopholes that made it possible to fudge data to the financial advantage of the confessor.<ref name="jeth" />
Chidambaram was criticised for his ministry's failure to prevent the 2011 Mumbai bombings, despite massive investments in security following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Three years after the 2008 attacks, security preparations were proven to be inadequate with channel breakdown and failures in modernising, procuring, and installing security equipment.<ref name="wsj-mumbaigap">Template:Cite news</ref> Chidambaram defended the agencies under his ministry against the charge of intelligence failure with the response which was later ridiculed by many people in India and its media:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner in 2011 that data entry operators at Sivaganga had transferred 3,400 votes polled by Kannappan from 11 polling stations in Chidambaram's favour. News reports suggest that on May 16, 2009, the AIADMK candidate Raja Kannappan was declared elected by 3555 votes at 12.30 pm, and the news was also broadcast on television. But in a dramatic reversal a few hours later, P Chidambaram was declared elected by 3354 votes at 4.30 pm, and was confirmed as the winner after a recount at 8.30 pm.<ref name="web.archive.org">Template:Cite web</ref>
On 7 April 2009, Chidambaram was assaulted by Sikh journalist Jarnail Singh during a press conference in Delhi on the issue of a "clean chit" to Jagdish Tytler. Singh, who wrote for the Hindi daily newspaper Dainik Jagaran was dissatisfied with Chidamabaram's answer to a question on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) "clean chit" regarding Jagdish Tytler's involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. It was the first shoe throwing incident in India.<ref>The Times of India Template:Webarchive. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 18 August 2016.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Chidambaram was part of Vedanta's legal team and on its board before becoming finance minister in 2004 [42].<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2002, a year before UK's Financial Services Authority allowed Sterlite to reconstitute itself as Vedanta Resources Plc, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) served a show-cause notice on three of Chairman Anil Agarwal's family. The notice was a demand that Sterlite directors answer allegations about using their holding companies-Volcan and Twinstar-to avoid paying taxes on forex transactions. It was a polite way of saying there was prima facie evidence, dating back to 1993, that the Agarwals were guilty of money laundering. For seven years the case dragged on in courts as Sterlite employed top lawyers to use every possible delaying tactic. P. Chidambaram argued in Sterlite's defence in a 2003 Bombay High Court case related to the ED's allegations. The following year, Chidambaram found himself appointed non-executive director on the board of Vedanta Resources Plc. And very soon, he became finance minister in UPA 1.
Former Union Minister and Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani's letter to Chidambaram on 6 December 2013 accused him of acting in collusion with the NDTV and laundering Rs 5000 crores of money through Mauritius route back to India.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In September 2025, Chidambaram revealed that in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the Congress-led UPA government had decided not to retaliate against Pakistan for sponsoring the attack, due to intense international pressure, although they were ready to act.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several BJP leaders condemned the admission and accused the Congress party for being soft on Pakistan, commenting that the statement came too little, too late.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
INX Media, Aircel-Maxis case
Template:Main In 2006, political leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy alleged that a company controlled by Karti Chidambaram, the son of Minister of Finance P. Chidambaram, received a five-percent share of Aircel to get part of Template:INR40 billion paid by Maxis Communications for the 74-percent share of Aircel. According to Swamy, Chidambaram withheld Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance of the deal until his son received the five-percent share in Siva's company.<ref name="Govt's defence of Chidambaram rings hollow">Template:Cite news</ref> The issue was raised a number of times in Parliament by the opposition, which demanded Chidambaram's resignation.<ref name="Aircel-Maxis Deal: Parliament Disrupted Over PC's Role">Template:Cite news</ref> Although Chidambaram and the then ruling Congress government denied the allegations,<ref name="Aircel-Maxis Deal: PC Dismisses Charges as Reckless">Template:Cite news</ref> The Pioneer and India Today reported the existence of documents showing that Chidambaram delayed approval of the foreign direct investment proposal by about seven months.<ref name="Govt's defence of Chidambaram rings hollow" /><ref name="Document shows Chidambaram delayed Aircel-Maxis deal by 7 months">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Govt trapped in own web of deceit">Template:Cite news</ref> It was alleged that Chidambaram's son, Karti was a direct beneficiary of the 2G spectrum case. His company, Advantage Strategic Consulting had a five per cent stake in Aircel Televentures, even as his father P Chidambaram, as Finance minister, was alleged to have offered FIPB clearance for the Aircel-Maxis deal only if his son's company, Advantage Strategic Consulting, got shares in Aircel Ventures.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating his involvement in Aircel deal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, and, subsequently, in 2016, information of wide-scale corruption by Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram and Robert Vadra, with the help of his father's position, including through the Airtel–Maxis deal and the Uttar Pradesh NRHM scam, was unveiled in prominent newspapers and media in India.<ref name="oneindia">Template:Cite news</ref> Simultaneously, Chidambaram and his son Karti have been dogged with allegations of corruption, misuse of position, insider trading and money laundering.
Imprisonment
On 20 August 2019, the Delhi High Court dismissed both anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambaram in connection with corruption charges in the INX Media case during his tenure as Finance minister in UPA Government.<ref name="oneindia" /><ref name="mint">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="jeth">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 21 August, he appeared at the Congress HQ and addressed a press conference stating that he was "not accused"; however, he left the place, and, later, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate at his home.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 5 September 2019, Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against rejection of anticipatory bail plea by Delhi High Court. The Special Court ordered Chidambaram to stay in judicial custody in Tihar Jail for 14 days. He was incarcerated for a total of 106 days in Tihar Jail. On 4 December he was granted bail by the supreme court.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Books, research papers and journals
Chidambaram is a published author of several books.
Books
- Fearless in Opposition: Power and Accountability (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; Template:ISBN)
- The Watershed Year: Which Way Will India Go (Publisher: Bloomsbury India; ASIN B0CWB4X4JK)
- Standing Guard: A Year in Opposition (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; Template:ISBN)
- Speaking Truth to Power: My Alternative View (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; Template:ISBN)
- Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India (Publisher: Rupa Publications India; Template:ISBN)
- A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone (Publisher: Penguin India; Template:ISBN)
Books featuring Chidambaram
- An Agenda for India's Growth: Essays in Honour of P. Chidambaram (Publisher: Academic Foundation; Template:ISBN)
See also
References
External links
Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons category
- Cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Prime Ministers Office, Archived
- Profile at BBC News
- Interview with Charlie Rose in April 2013
Template:Navboxes Template:Navboxes Template:Authority control
- 1945 births
- Living people
- India MPs 1984–1989
- India MPs 1989–1991
- India MPs 1991–1996
- India MPs 1996–1997
- India MPs 1998–1999
- India MPs 2004–2009
- India MPs 2009–2014
- Harvard Business School alumni
- Tamil Maanila Congress politicians
- Indian Hindus
- Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu
- Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu
- Presidency College, Chennai alumni
- Union ministers from Tamil Nadu
- University of Madras alumni
- Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra
- People from Sivaganga district
- Indian prisoners and detainees
- Inmates of Tihar Jail
- Ministers of finance of India
- Ministers for corporate affairs
- Ministers of internal affairs of India
- Commerce and industry ministers of India
- Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu