Delhi polls: Kamal Nath named star campaigner for Cong, candidate opposes

Naming of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath as one of the star campaigners for the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections by the Congress has divided the party with one of its candidate as well as Delhi Sikh leaders opposing the decision.

Congress candidate from Tilak Nagar constituency Raminder Singh Bamrah has expressed reservations over the decision. Everyone knew that Kamal Nath was behind the 1984 riots, he said. "Everyone knows Kamal Nath along with Sajan Kumar plotted the riots," Bamrah told IANS.

"I will make sure that he doesn't come to my constituency to address any rally," the Congress candidate said.

Other Sikh leaders too are upset with the Congress move. Majinder Singh Sirsa, Akali Dal leader and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief, criticised the decision and also issued a warning to the party.

"We will not let him address any rally. By making him a star poll campaigner, the Congress has made it clear that it's an anti-Sikh party," Sirsa told IANS.

Earlier in September, the Home Ministry had ordered reopening of a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case against Kamal Nath. In a notification, it asked the special investigation team (SIT) probing the riot cases to reopen the case No 601/84 against Nath and consider the fresh evidence against the Congress leader.
 

The order came on a petition filed by Sirsa.

As per the official records, 3,325 people were killed in the riots. Of this, 2,733 were slain in Delhi. According to the Home Ministry's November 2016 affidavit, 650 cases had been registered in the 1984 riots.