BJP chief pulls up lawmakers for visiting Sajjan Kumar's residence
NEW delhi, Aug. 30 -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Nabin on Saturday pulled up three lawmakers from Delhi who went to meet the family of former Congress leader and anti-Sikh riots convict Sajjan Kumar after his death, people aware of the developments said.
According to the people, Nabin summoned Kamlajeet Sehrawat, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, and Yogender Chandolia to register his consternation over the Lok Sabha MPs not sticking to the party line. The BJP has been at the forefront of seeking justice for the victims of the 1984 Sikh pogrom that took place in the aftermath of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. Kumar died on August 20 in prison. He was serving two concurrent life sentences for the murders of Sikhs.
A senior party leader aware of the matter said: "The transgression by the MPs left the party embarrassed... as it is the BJP which has been pushing for justice and punishment for those responsible. Justice for the Sikh victims has been on the agenda of the BJP and after coming to power (at the Centre in 2014), the Union government formed a dedicated SIT (in 2015) to reinvestigate the cases that had been pushed under the carpet by the Congress government."
The issue also has the potential to flare into a controversy in Punjab, where the BJP is set to contest the upcoming assembly polls on its own.
The leader quoted above said, while propriety is followed between political rivals, in this case, Kumar was a convict whom the party fought tooth and nail against. "In such a case, there cannot be a distinction between the party and the personal." the leader added.
On Friday, the party took action against three leaders in Punjab for making public remarks that breached the party line during a press conference in Sangrur: Randeep Singh Deol and Maninder Singh Kapial, both former presidents of BJP Sangrur, and Jatinder Kalra, a former cell coordinator of the Punjab unit....
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