Controversial leader and anti-Sikh riots accused Jagdish Tytler on Monday attended the Delhi Congress unit’s meeting over the preparations of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“We will participate because we are in favour of what he (Rahul Gandhi) is doing. So, we will participate in a big way,” said Jagdish Tytler, Congress leader whose name cropped up in the 1984 Sikh pogrom that took place after the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi.
Warding off charges against him, Tytler said, “Is there any FIR (in 1984 anti-Sikh riots ) against me? CBI has also given me clearance. Some are only doing politics…Yes, will join the (Bharat Jodo Yatra), and I will be with the party until my last breath,” he said, reported ANI.
Is there any FIR (in 1984 anti-Sikh riots ) against me? CBI has also given me clearance. Some are only doing politics…Yes, will join the (Bharat Jodo Yatra), and I will be with the party until my last breath: Jagdish Tytler, Congress pic.twitter.com/vgImtZvHac
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2022
When asked about Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s claim of forming government in Gujarat in 2027, Tytler said, “Let Kejriwal speak. We know Rahul Gandhi’s program has got the entire nation working on it. We’ve seen what happened in Indira Gandhi’s time & now we are again seeing this happening. People are joining him.”
It is worth noting that Tytler still holds sway in Congress and has repeatedly attended meetings and political events organised by it. He was last seen campaigning for the Congress party in the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.
The Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on Monday resumed from Rajasthan’s Bandikui and will halt for the day at Mahua Khurd in the state. It is scheduled to reach Delhi on December 24 and will take a 9-days break, resuming on January 3, 2023, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Who is Jagdish Tytler
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and culminated in the horrific killings of over 2800 people, according to government data.
Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were accused of a direct role in instigating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India. Jagdish Tytler was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 and later served as the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport.
He was only dropped in 2009 by Congress due to the controversy over his actions in the 1984 riots. The CBI gave a clean chit to Tytler during the second term of the UPA government. However, the closure report was rejected by a Sessions Court, and an investigation into his role was requested.
Despite public calls to cut relations with Tytler, Congress has frequently accommodated him on public platforms. In January 2019, Congress was criticised for granting Tytler a front-row seat during the ceremony of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit taking over as Delhi Congress chief on January 16, 2019.
