Congress Picks Jagdish Tytler, Accused Of Role In Delhi Riots, For Key Role

The Congress's move to include 1984 riots-accused Jagdish Tytler in its committee for the Delhi municipal election has sparked a huge controversy.

"The Congress rubs salt on the wounds of Sikhs of 1984 carnage by inducting Jagdish Tytler in their Delhi State Election Committee. It shows they have no repentance of what Rajiv Gandhi and his team did in 1984," tweeted BJP's Delhi spokesperson RP Singh.

Jagdish Tytler has been accused of leading mobs against Sikhs in the riots that followed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. At least 3,000 people were killed in the riots.

The allegations against him are linked to the killing of three persons by a mob. 

Mr Tytler, 74, has long been an embarrassment for the Congress, which has been accused by the BJP, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other rivals of shielding its leaders accused in the anti-Sikh riots.

Mr Tytler also became a minister in the Manmohan Singh government in 2004 but had to quit in firestorm of protests.

The Congress has been criticized multiple times over the controversial politician's presence at its events, often in the front row.

Mr Tytler argues that the charges against him have not been proved.

Another riot-accused Congress leader, Sajjan Kumar, was sentenced to life in jail by the Delhi High Court, which cancelled an earlier court order letting him off.

Kamal Nath, another Congress leader whose name has come up in witness accounts, faced protests after he was picked by party president Rahul Gandhi as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2018. 

Yesterday, Kamal Nath being honoured at a Guru Nanak Jayanti event in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, angered the hymn singer, Manpreet Singh Kanpuri, who slammed the organisers from the stage.