Stalin didn’t tell me about INDIA exit: PC

Madurai: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said former chief minister M K Stalin did not tell him that he was leaving INDIA bloc when the two met after the election.“After the election, I had gone to Delhi. I returned to Chennai only at the end of May. So, I met him (Stalin). We exchanged views. He did not tell me that he was leaving the INDIA alliance. I do not know whether this is a final decision. I know he did not attend this meeting,” Chidambaram told reporters.He said the new TVK govt should be given time as 31 ministers had no assembly experience and most MLAs had entered the House for the first time. Chidambaram said Congress decided to support TVK to avoid a re-election or President’s Rule. “President’s Rule means BJP rule. So, BJP would have come through the back door and sat on the throne,” he said. He said TVK had declared BJP its ideological and political enemy, accepted secularism and promised to protect state rights.On his meeting with chief minister Vijay, Chidambaram said it was only a courtesy call and that he gave Vijay two books as mementos.On Narendra Modi completing 4,399 days as PM, Chidambaram called it an achievement but said Jawaharlal Nehru’s first five years from 1947 to 1952 should not be ignored. “Do not forget that Jawaharlal Nehru served 4,398 days plus five years,” he said.