Tytler V/s Varun Gandhi in Punjab
In Punjab, Sikh sentiments rule supreme, and no political party can afford to upset this proud, if somewhat prickly, votebank. This time around, both the Congress, and the ruling Akali Dal- BJP combine have got an ‘anti Sikh tag’ to whip each other with. If the BJP has the albatross of Varun Gandhi round its neck, the Congress is no less unburdened after having given tickets inDelhi to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused in the 1984 Sikh riots. Just as Varun was belting out his controversial speech in Pilibhit where he reportedly made derogatory remarks aboutMuslims and Sikhs in the same breath, murmurings began in Punjab about the allotment of tickets to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
Former Congress chief Amarinder Singh was first off the blocks with his open letter to the incumbent chief minister Prakash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal. Amarinderwants Badal to clarify his party’s stand on the issue, since Varun is from the Akali Dal’s alliance partner, the BJP. "They, (the Akalis) must know that silence means consent and they must therefore clarify as to where they stand on the issue", says he. Some radical Sikh organizations too have condemned Varun’s speech and demanded an apology. Publicly,Akali leaders are defending the BJP, taking refuge behind the argument that the CD put out by the Congress is doctored, but in private there is much unease. Note that Varun is half Sikh, as his mother Maneka Gandhi belongs to a Sikh family. His Sikh lineage could well bail him out in Punjab, because, as his mother Maneka has pointed out, "Varun cannot make any anti-Sikh remark."