Ticking off senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram for his remarks on Operation Bluestar, the Congress said that senior leaders should be careful before making public statements that potentially could embarrass the party.
Sources said that both “rank and file” were agitated over Mr. Chidambaram’s comment.
Speaking at a literature festival on Saturday (October 11, 2025), Mr. Chidambaram said Operation Blue Star was not the right way to capture militants holed up in the Golden Temple in 1984, due to which the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, “paid with her life”.
“There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants, but Operation Blue Star was the wrong way, and I agree that Ms. Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake, but the mistake was a cumulative decision of the Army, Intelligence, police and civil defence, and you cannot completely blame (just) Ms. Gandhi,” he said.
Party sources said that the Congress leadership was of the view that “senior leaders who have received everything from the party should be more careful in making public statements that embarrass the party. This cannot become a habit.”
