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| Tytler, Sajjan pulled out of LS race | | SIKH OUTRAGE | | AGENCIES
New Delhi, Apr 9: A worried Congress withdrew its controversial leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from the electoral fray as the ghost of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots returned to haunt the party over their alleged role in the carnage.
"Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar have expressed their sentiments that they do not wish to embarrass the party by contesting Lok Sabha elections when some political parties and individuals have tried to vitiate the atmosphere. They have opted out of Lok Sabha elections... The party has accepted their feelings and decided that they will not be Lok Sabha candidates of the Indian National Congress," party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters shortly after Tytler announced his decision to opt out of the race.
The Congress decision comes amid a raging controversy over fielding the two leaders, whose names figured as accused in the 1984 riots, accentuated by the incident of lobbing a shoe by a Sikh journalist at Home Minister P Chidambaram at AICC press conference on Tuesday (April 7).
The journalist said that he was protesting against the clean chit given by CBI to Tytler in the riots case, an issue on which the CBI has told a local court that it had no jurisdiction to go into. The case has been deferred till April 28.
Earlier, Tytler had announced that he was quitting the Lok Sabha race saying the controversy surrounding him has 'embarrassed' the party and 'damaged' its prospects.
"The media reports (of my alleged role) have damaged prospects of my party just before the elections. And at this particular time I think I should be away...I am not going to pursue my ticket with the party in this election," he told reporters.
"Media and the Akalis have created such an environment and that too at poll time that I think I should not contest," said Tytler.
Tytler, however, denied any pressure from the party for his decision. "Nobody in the party has approached me...Whatever Congress President tells me to do I will do that. If they ask me to jump in the well, I will jump," said the senior leader.
Kumar also spoke on similar lines, saying he was a 'loyal soldier' of the Congress and would do whatever the party tells him.
65-year-old Tytler, elected thrice to the Lok Sabha, was earlier forced to resign as Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs in August 2005 in the wake of Nanavati Commission report which had indicted him. He was candidate for newly-created North East constituency of Delhi.
A three-time Lok Sabha member from Outer Delhi constituency, 64-year Kumar was named as candidate for newly-created South Delhi.
Though the Congress maintained that it was the decision of Tytler and Kumar to withdraw from the race, a meeting on Wednesday (April 8) last night on party President Sonia Gandhi's return from Kerala appeared to have decided on this course.
Sources said that Gandhi called Dwivedi after a meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) this afternoon and told him to announce the decision, expected to contain the damage to the party in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi where Sikhs form a considerable chunk of voters.
Though the party accused BJP and Akali Dal of inciting the incident, sources say that sentiments this time were intense and there was deliberate attempt to communalise the situation.
Dwivedi said that the decision came as it did not want people to have any 'doubts' about the intentions of the party.
Asked why then they had been nominated in the first place if the party had fears about the political fallout, Dwivedi said, "Both are our victorious candidates. They were nominated as they won the last Lok Sabha elections. Normally we have given tickets to sitting MPs."
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