Bowing to the agitation by Sikhs in New Delhi and in Punjab, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar have opted out of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The decision was taken after intense deliberations, in which it was decided that it would be best not to field Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, who were the Congress candidates from North-East Delhi and South Delhi respectively.

 

Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi informed the media about the party's decision. He added that both Tytler and Sajjan Kumar had opted out of the Lok Sabha elections so as not to vitiate the atmosphere in the run up to the April-May polls. The party said their replacements would be announced shortly. The announcement came on a day of vocal Sikh protests against their candidature.

 

The issues grabbed the national focus when a Sikh journalist hurled a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram to protest against the reported clean chit given to Tytler by the CBI. There are allegations that both these leaders were involved in the killing of Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. However, they pleaded their innocence and accused the media and rival political parties of making a political vendetta.