Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday slammed Union Minister Arun Jaitley for describing Congress president Rahul Gandhi as Maoist-jehadi sympathiser in his blog post.

Chidambaram took to micro-blogging site Twitter to register his objection over the words Jaitley used for Rahul Gandhi. The veteran Congress leader termed Jaitley's remark as 'laughable and absurd' while asserting that his party has always 'stoutly opposed' Maoists and jehadists.

"The allegation that jehadists and Maoists have earned the sympathy of Rahul Gandhi is laughable and absurd. Congress is stoutly opposed to the two groups. Who can forget that Congress practically lost its entire leadership in Chhattisgarh to Maoist violence?" Chidambaram said.

 

The allegation that jehadists and Maoists have earned the sympathy of Rahul Gandhi is laughable and absurd. Congress is stoutly opposed to the two groups.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) June 23, 2018

"Under UPA, the government fought the jehadists in J&K and brought down the level of violence substantially," he added.

What Jaitley had said:

Hitting out at Congress and human rights groups, Arun Jaitley had said that dealing with terrorists who refuse to surrender is not "muscular policy" but a law and order issue which cannot wait for political solution.

"A sucide attacker is willing to die. He is also willing to kill. Should he be dealt with by offering Satyagraha before him? When he advances to kill, should the security forces that confront him, ask him to sit on a table and have dialogue with them?" Jaitley raised the question in his Facebook post.

 "The political adventurists in parties like AAP, TMC and the like only look for a political opportunity in these groups. These human right organisations are an over-ground face of the underground. In the system that they believe in, there is no place for life, liberty, equality and free speech. In fact, there is no space for election or Parliamentary democracy," Jaitley added.