Mumbai: With Congress leader Kamal Nath resigning as the party's in-charge of Punjab affairs, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the move is a clear evidence of the fact that the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 was a very well organised and orchestrated by the grand old party and its leaders.
"We just saw the news that Kamal Nath has been withdrawn as the in-charge for the Punjab election. Probably, the Congress realized that they have made a mistake. It is very clear and evident that the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 was a very well-organised and orchestrated by the Congress and its leaders. So, they must have probably realized it," Rijiju said.
Kamal Nath, whose appointment drew sharp criticism from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), stepped down as the general secretary in-charge of the Punjab Affairs following a controversy over his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
In a letter addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday, Kamal Nath requested her to relieve him from his duties so that the attention of the party is not diverted from the real issues such as the 'rampant drug trade' in Punjab.
"Certain elements are raking up these issues now only for political gains. I am touched by the support shown by our party workers and leaders in Punjab in repudiating the false accusations. I am a practitioner of Nehruvian politics and maligning of the Congress party using false accusations is unacceptable to me," Nath said in the letter.
Hoping that the party focuses on the upcoming elections rather than the furore over his appointment, he added that the Congress must highlight the issues of misgovernance, misery of farmers and youth, break down of law and order and rampant drug trade that caused misery to the people of Punjab.
"Given this, I request that I may be relieved of my charge to ensure that the attention is not diverted from the real issues facing Punjab," Nath said.
The Congress president accepted the resignation on his request, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala announced.
Kamal Nath's appointment as general secretary in charge of Punjab had come under fire from the rival parties, which alleged that he had a role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and accused Sonia of being insensitive to the community's sentiments.
The senior leader said in his letter to Sonia that it would be unwise to allow these parties an excuse to divert attention from their failures.
"After 21 years, my name was included in the Nanavati Commission set up by the NDA government after proper investigation fully absolved me. This canard is nothing but a cheap political ploy to gain traction ahead of the election," he wrote.
He also recalled that nobody, including Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, had named him during the debate on the Nanavati report in Parliament and that home minister L.K. Advani too did not mention him in his reply. He was general secretary in charge of Delhi, where the riots took place, and even then this issue was not raised.
Kamal Nath said he would rather step aside than allow the rivals to malign the Congress.
The Congress had earlier dismissed the allegations against Kamal Nath, asserting that "the lie would be confronted with full force". Spokesperson Anand Sharma had said: "Kamal Nath was not involved at all. Nobody took his name till 2005 and after 21 years his name suddenly cropped up."
But the leader himself felt the Congress was poised for victory in Punjab and it should not allow the ruling alliance to divert people's attention from their abysmal track record on governance and the drug menace. The Akali Dal has built all its election campaigns in Punjab since 1984 on the riots.
The AAP too, he felt, was raising this issue because Arvind Kejriwal had failed to deliver in Delhi and had no leader to match Amarinder Singh's stature in Punjab.