Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday attacked the Congress for appointing Kamal Nath as the party general secretary and in charge of Punjab, asking Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh if he has absolved Mr. Nath for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Mr. Kejriwal also questioned the Centre’s move to reopen 75 cases of anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and some other States saying the BJP has set up SIT (Special Investigation Team) only to prevent the Aam Aadmi Party from forming an effective SIT.
Hours after Mr. Nath and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad were appointed general secretaries in charge of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party National convenor tweeted “Capt Amrinder shud state his stand on Kamal Nath. Does Capt absolve Kamal Nath?”
Later, he also tweeted “Reopen cases now? What did they do in one n a half years? BJP set up SIT only 2 prevent AAP from formin effective SIT.”
The AAP is set to contest Assembly polls in Punjab, the first time it is contesting a State election after its landslide victory in Delhi in 2015.
Apart from Punjab, 69-year-old Mr. Nath will look after Haryana. He is the senior-most MP in the current Lok Sabha having won from his pocket borough of Chhindwara nine times.
Meanwhile, a Home Ministry official said the Centre-appointed SIT will re-investigate around 75 cases of 1984 riots in Delhi and some other States, a decision that comes months ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab.
A total of 3,325 people were killed in the riots. Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.
The Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of the 241 cases closed by the police but BJP wanted re-investigation of all the other 237 cases.-PTI
