Kasauli, Oct. 12 -- Congress MP P Chidambaram criticised the Operation Blue Star under the Indira Gandhi-led government in 1984, describing it as "the wrong way", and said that the former Prime Minister paid with her life for the "mistake".

Speaking at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival 2025 on Saturday, the former Union Home and Finance Minister said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.

The June 1984 Operation Blue Star was a cumulative decision of the Army, the police, the intelligence and the civil services, he said.

He said, "No disrespect to any military officers here, but that (Blue Star) was the wrong way to retrieve the Golden Temple....