Tytler, Sajjan Kumar Withdraw from Poll Fray
Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar have withdrawn their candidature for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Delhi, the decision comes in wake of protests over their alleged complexity in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot that followed the assassination of then prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
Announcing the decision, Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi said the party had decided that “they will not be Lok Sabha candidates” from Delhi in the general elections that kick off on April 16.
Dwivedi said the two leaders had opted out of the poll fray to ensure that the atmosphere was not vitiated ahead of the elections.
The announcement came hours after a Delhi court deferred the hearing of a CBI plea seeking closure of the case against Tytler citing lack of evidence against the leader.
The 1984 anti-Sikh carnage sprang back into public glare after the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) gave a ‘clean chit’ to Tytler on April 2.
Sikh groups say the action to absolve Tytler was taken at the behest of the ruling Congress, and his nomination as a party candidate from North-East Delhi soon triggered protests in the national capital and Punjab.
Though, Tytler and Kumar are now out of the poll fray, the damage has already been done for the Congress in Punjab a state where India’s minority Sikhs control a majority of parliamentary segments.
