Tytler, Sajjan out; their seats up for grabs

Soon after Congress decided not to field Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, names of Delhi Assembly speaker Yoganand Shastri, Delhi Minister Mangat Ram Singhal and member of Legislative Assembly Narendra Nath started doing rounds as probable candidates for North-East Delhi and South-Delhi seats.

Sources in the party said prominent Gujjar leader Balram Tanwar was also a strong contender for the now vacant North-East Delhi constituency. Embarassed by the shoe hurling incident and pressurised from various corners, Congress was forced to withdraw the candidatures of Tytler and Kumar in view of strong public sentiment against them for their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh

riots.

While Shastri and Singha are reportedly eyeing South Delhi constituency, Nath and Tanwar are said to be keen for North-East Delhi seat. Questioned about their resurrected hope to contest the Lok Sabha polls, the party leaders refused that they were trying for these seats and maintained that they were "loyal soldiers", abiding what ever Congress decides.

"I am a loyal soldier of the party. Whatever it decides, I will follow," Singhal told PTI while reacting on his reported interest in contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Nath, the three time MLA from the Vaish community had served the DPCC as vice president from 1995 to 2004.