NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday hit back at the Congress after several of its leaders paid tribute to former party leader Sajjan Kumar, a convict in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, who died at 80.Congress MP Deepender Hooda described the death of Kumar, a former three-term Lok Sabha MP, as an “irreparable loss.”“Today, the country’s political landscape has suffered an irreparable loss… Sajjan Kumar ji was a leader whose connection with people in Delhi and across north India was cited as a model across the country,” he said.Reacting to Hooda’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress of “eulogising the killers of the Sikh community”, referring to Kumar’s role in the anti-Sikh riots.“Congress calls late Sajjan Kumar, a man convicted in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, a ‘role model’! How can Congress eulogise the killers of our Sikh community?” Bhandari posted on X.“This is the real mindset of ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukkan’ (shop of love) of Rahul Gandhi and exposes the innate hate Congress has for the Sikh community!” Bhandari added, referring to a phrase used by Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.The BJP spokesperson further demanded that Congress apologise for “insulting” the victims of the anti-Sikh riots and “rubbing” salt into the wounds of the survivors and victims’ families.Congress leader Udit Raj also described Kumar’s death as a “great loss” for the party.“It is a great loss for the Congress. He was a very senior Congress leader, and it will be difficult to fill the void… He did a lot of work, especially for the poor,” Raj stated.Sajjan Kumar died at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Thursday.“Sajjan Kumar was brought to Safdarjung Hospital by police with altered sensorium around 11 am. He was immediately admitted and resuscitation measures were initiated. Despite providing all necessary medical and life-support measures, he could not be saved and passed away at 12:30 pm,” the hospital’s statement read.“He was a known case of high blood pressure and Parkinson’s disease and had a history of multiple hospital admissions in the past,” the statement added.
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Kumar was serving multiple life sentences after his conviction in cases linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018, in a case related to the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a gurdwara during the anti-Sikh riots.He was also sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court in February 2025 in another case relating to the killing of two Sikh men during the riots.Kumar resigned from the primary membership of the Congress after the 2018 conviction.
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