The Congress on Monday released a list of AICC delegates from Delhi, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and former Union minister Jagdish Tytler, whose name figured in a probe panel report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The election of Tytler as an All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegate drew strong reactions from Delhi's ruling AAP and the BJP, which said it exposed the opposition party's character of creating division and chaos in the country.
The AICC delegates perform key roles in the party. They, along with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates, will attend the party's 85th plenary session to be held in Raipur from February 24 to 26.
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The AICC delegates form the electorate whenever there is an election for members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the top decision-making body of the party.
The Steering Committee of the party will take a call on February 24 on whether there will be elections for 11 of the 25 members of the CWC this time.
The Congress has 1,338 elected and 487 co-opted AICC delegates from across the country.
Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the elected AICC members from Uttar Pradesh, which has the maximum number of delegates.
There are a total of 36 elected and 25 co-opted AICC delegates from Delhi.
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AAP condemns Congress' move
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday lashed out at the Congress for electing Jagdish Tytler as an AICC delegate, saying the move shows there is a "pathological dislike for Sikhs" in the grand old party’s DNA.
Alleging that Tytler was involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the AAP also demanded that the Congress take steps to bring him to justice, instead of rewarding him with promotions in the party.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party termed the inclusion of Tytler's name on the list of the AICC delegates as “disgusting and cheap” and demanded his name be removed “with immediate effect”.
The AAP’s reaction came after the Delhi Congress released a list of the elected AICC members which included Tytler’s name.
“With another promotion for Jagdish Tytler, Congress' message for Sikhs is clear - that it will continue to indulge in a brazen display of insensitivity towards Sikhs. Like I said earlier, a pathological dislike for Sikhs is in Congress' DNA,” AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who is also party's spokesperson, said in a tweet.
The name of Tytler, once a formidable leader of the Congress in Delhi, had figured in a report of the Nanavati Commission which probed into the anti-Sikh riots.
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Slamming the Congress' move, AAP MLA Jarnail Singh said, ”On the one hand Rahul Gandhi says he has come to open Mobabbat Ki Dukaan (shop of love) and on the other hand the Congress indulges in such cheap and disgusting activity by making the main accused an AICC delegate.”
With Tytler’s election as AICC delegate, there is so much anger “among the Sikh and other communities” across the country, the Tilak Nagar MLA said.
"Expel Tytler from this committee with immediate effect and take action to bring him to justice,” Singh said.
The AAP leader also took on the BJP and accused it of not doing anything to bring the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to justice.
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After coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP-led government “hurriedly” set up an SIT to probe the 1984 riots, he said.
“People believed that justice could finally be served. The SIT also promised to bring the killers to justice within a year, but nearly 10 years since then, we are yet to see any progress,” the AAP MLA said.
“We request the BJP-led Central government to deliver justice to the victims of the 1984 riots and bring the murderers to their end instead of conspiring with them,” he added.
'Nafrat ki dukan': BJP accuses Cong of spreading hate
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The BJP on Monday condemned the Congress for electing Jagdish Tytler, a former MP whose name figured in a probe panel report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as an AICC delegate, and said it exposes the opposition party's character of creating division and chaos in the country.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the Congress action shows its leader Rahul Gandhi who talked of "mohabbat ki dukan" during his Bharat Jodo Yatra is actually opening "nafrat ki dukan (shop of hatred)".
The BJP attack on the Congress came after Tytler's name figured in the list of All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegates. He was elected an AICC delegate from Delhi.
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Bhatia asked what message the Congress wanted to convey by appointing Tytler as an AICC delegate.
"The leader who spread maximum hatred during anti-Sikh riots in 1984 has been made an elected member of AICC. It would not be wrong to say that such leaders are spine of Congress," Bhatia charged.
He said Tytler was also present to oversee the arrangements when Gandhi's "Bharat Todo Yatra" reached the national capital and added, "It shows Rahul Gandhi and Jagdish Tytler are two bodies, one soul."
All these responsibilities and appointments of Tytler show that the Congress has "no identity without him", Bhatia said, adding it "exposes Congress and its character of creating division and chaos in the country."
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Taking a dig at Gandhi over his remarks during the Bharat Jodo Yatra that he was opening a shop of love in the market of hate, Bhatia said, "Gandhi kept on saying that he has come to open 'mohabbat ki dukan' in an atmosphere of hatred in the country. Now with the appointment of Tytler, he is opening 'nafrat ki dukan' (shop of hatred)."
The name of Tytler, once a formidable leader of the Congress in Delhi, figured in a report of the Nanavati Commission which probed into the anti-Sikh riots.
(With PTI Inputs)
