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Akali Dal behind shoe hurling incident, claims Tytler

April 08, 2009 19:45 IST
With the Congress adopting a "wait and watch" approach on the issue of Jagdish Tytler's candidature, the controversial leader on Wednesday blamed the Akali Dal for the shoe hurling incident, even as he put forward an unfazed exterior and continued his campaign trail in Delhi.

The Lok Sabha candidate from Northeast Delhi, Tytler's role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots once again came to the fore with a Sikh scribe lobbing a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday protesting Central Bureau of Investigation's clean chit to the Congress nominee.

However, Tytler indicated that the incident was instigated by the Akalis and described the reports of his candidature being reviewed by the party as "sheer nonsense".

"This is sheer nonsense," he said, reacting to the controversy that his name might be reconsidered.

Tytler claimed that the Sikh families in his constituency have pledged their support to "bring Manmohan Singh back (as prime minister)" and said "they told me that the whole move is motivated by Akali Dal".

Meanwhile, the Congress appeared reluctant to take a clear stand on the issue, with party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan saying, "When the time comes to make a clear statement, that will be made. At this point of time I would like to confine myself to saying let's wait and see what happens."

Earlier, Tytler said he had left the decision on his nomination with the Congress leadership, saying the party is "supreme".

Journalist Jarnail Singh, who created a storm by tossing his shoe at Chidambaram, refuted his association with the Akalis, saying, "People are politicising the issue. He (Tytler) should show when I get the membership of the Akali Dal."

CBI had given a clean chit to Tytler in the riot cases and sought permission from the court to close the investigations into the matter.

Meanwhile, Tytler continued campaigning in his constituency of Northeast Delhi and addressed public meetings at Naveen Shahdara, Uldhampur, Johripur, Sriram Colony, Seelampur, Jagdamba Colony and Yamuna Vihar.

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