Congress boots out Tytler, Sajjan from poll fray

Amid widespread protests by Sikhs and less than 48 hours after journalist Jarnail Singh symbolised the anger by tossing a shoe at Union home minister P Chidambaram, an embarrassed Congress decided not to field Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Unrelenting protests in Delhi and Punjab, which broke out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) exonerated Tytler in an anti-Sikh riots case, had pushed the party into a corner. Both Tytler and Kumar had been indicted by the Justice GT Nanavati commission of inquiry for inciting violence against Sikhs after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

With the party fearing irreparable damage to its electoral prospects in Punjab and Delhi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi took the decision to withdraw the party's nomination to both after consulting top leaders on Thursday evening. Tytler had earlier been fielded from Northeast Delhi while Kumar was in the fray from South Delhi.

Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters that the party had decided to honour the wishes of the two politicians not to contest the election in view of the storm kicked up over their candidature.

"As a responsible political party we have to be sensitive to public opinion," Dwivedi said. "We also did not want to allow elements who are hell-bent on exploiting this issue to succeed. Therefore, we have decided to withdraw the candidature of our colleagues [Tytler and Kumar]."

It was easier said than done, however, especially with both politicians commanding large followings in their respective areas. The party had to be mindful not to do anything that would irk the supporters of the two leaders who have won their seats several times.

It took several behind-the-scenes moves, involving senior aides of the Congress president and the two Delhi strongmen themselves. Yet, the writing had been very much on the wall for Tytler and Kumar over the past two days with Sikh anger seriously threatening the party's chances in Punjab and Delhi. It was only a question of deciding the modalities of their exit, without adding insult to injury.

Ahmed Patel, Gandhi's political secretary, party general secretary Oscar Fernandes, and Delhi Congress chief JP Agarwal held talks with the two politicians and it was eventually decided that they would themselves opt out of the fray.

"My heart says a lot of embarrassment has been caused to the party," Tytler later told reporters. "I don't think I should fight."

The Congress leadership was also under pressure from its Punjab unit. The normally divided unit was unanimous in the view that the two politicians must be denied the ticket to take the sting out of the Shiromani Akali Dal's campaign.

The Congress had won only two of the 13 Lok Sabha seats from Punjab in 2004. Before the protests broke out this time, the party was hoping to corner at least eight seats.

Journalist Jarnail Singh, however, wasn't too happy with the day's developments. "I am not feeling victorious," he said. "This (denying tickets to Tytler and Kumar) may be good politically, but still justice needs to be done (to the victims of the 1984 riots)."

Meanwhile, a Delhi court hearing an anti-Sikh riots case against Tytler deferred its decision on a CBI plea exonerating the Delhi leader even as the bureau raised questions about the jurisdiction of the magisterial court to decide on the report as it pertains to the offence of murder, which should be heard by a sessions court.