Sonia to take final call on axing Tytler and Sajjan Kumar

In a bid at damage control, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is learnt to be veering around the view that politically, it would be in the party's interest to axe both Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar and instead field new candidates from North East and South Delhi respectively.

Sources said that while a final decision is expected only after her return from Kerala on Wednesday night, there is a consensus amongst her core team of political advisors that the need of the hour was to replace the two leaders.

Along with this, All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi is also learnt to be of  the view that the issue had dragged on for too long and that the party should cut itself from the past and if that means having to sacrifice the two leaders, then so be it. His thinking is also dictated by the fact that the Congress should do nothing which will
benefit Maneka Gandhi within the Sikh community and for that the strong sentiments of the community should not be ignored.

The Congress president is said to be of the view that replacing only Tytler would serve no purpose as the spotlight would then shift to Sajjan Kumar and the entire exercise would have been in vain. To pre-empt that, the leadership is learnt to have veered around the view that the wiser course of action would be to replace both the leaders who have been named in the anti-Sikh riots.

Sources say there is huge pressure from the Punjab Congress to replace the two leaders as the Akali-Bharatiya Janata Party combine have launched a massive agitation on the issue in the wake of the CBI clean chit to Jagdish Tytler for which the Congress is appearing to be defenseless with no strong argument to buttress their case.  Punjab Congress leaders have strongly conveyed to the party leadership that if the decision on Tytler and Sajjan Kumar is not rolled back, the party would lose a number of seats in the state.

All the various factions of Punjab Congress are learnt to have united on the issue and are being vocal in their opposition, though there is not much impact on the situation in Delhi.

Highly placed sources state that  after Sonia Gandhi's return from her election tour of Kerala, a meeting has been convened at 10, Janpath which will be attended by the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, the state Pradesh Congress Committe president Jai Prakash Aggarwal, the AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi, Oscar Fernandes, the political secretary to the Congress President Ahmed Patel to discuss the likely names which will replace the two veteran party leaders.

While Sonia Gandhi is returning late on Wednesday night, the meeting would be held either the same night or early on Thursday morning.

Sources said that with the court taking up the final closure case of the 1984 riots case tomorrow, it would be significant to see whether the CBI's clean chit to Tytler is upheld or rejected. A section feels that the party should wait for the court verdict while another section feels that the issue should be handled politically.  It is learnt that since the issue has taken on a political hue, the Congress would like to respond to it politically rather than take shelter behind legal pronouncements.

Hectic lobbying has already begun with party leaders throwing their hat in the ring. According to the assessment of the party there is a qualitative difference in the two leaders and the two seats. While Sajjan Kumar is seen to have a great deal of influence on both his seat as well as those nearby, it is felt that the new candidate must be a person of Sajjan Kumar's choice who can be his nominee in every sense of the word and with whom Sajjan Kumar will co-operate rather than work for his defeat.

In this context he has suggested the name of his son Pervez while his second choice is his brother. The Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit on the other hand has suggested the name of Yoganand Shastri as a winnable candidate from there.

As far as Tytler is concerned, North east Delhi is not his seat, nor does he have any great influence in the area. He also does not have any particular nominee as his replacement. Sources say that while the party would not like to give the ticket to anyone whom he is bitterly opposed to, in his case, the decision would be taken by the party.

The name of the delhi PCC president Jai Prakash Aggarwal is already in circulation as his likely replacement though sources say that Aggarwal is lobbying for his son, whom he would like to see contesting the Lok Sabha polls.

There is a section in the party which feels that with Tytler out, this may be the ideal opportunity to give the ticket to a Muslim candidate in this predominantly Muslim constituency, as it would help the party in nearby states too. In this context the names of Matin Khan and Parvez Hashmi are being mentioned.Along with this the party's West Delhi candidate Mahabal Mishra is keen to shift to North East Delhi in place of  Tytler as he is feeling uncomfortable in West Delhi. There is lobbying on from among his supporters to change his constituency.