Tytler's inclusion among AICC delegates sparks row

The Congress on Monday released a list of All India Congress Committee (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 AICC delegate drew strong reactions from Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, 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.

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.

Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar Chaudhary, former Union minister Ajay Maken and former AICC general secretary (organisation) Janardan Dwivedi are among the elected AICC delegates from Delhi.

The list of elected delegates also includes Devendra Yadav, Manish Chatrath, Abhishek Dutt, Krishna Allavaru, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Sandeep Dikshit, Subhash Chopra and Alka Lamba.

Among the co-opted AICC members from Delhi are Praveen Davar, former Delhi ministers Haroon Yusuf and Krishna Tirath, boxer Vijender Singh, Ragini Nayak and K B Byju.

Targeting the Congress over the election of Tytler, 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 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.

Slamming the Congress AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, "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."

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.