Jagdish Tytler opts out of primaries

NEW DELHI: Congress was spared a major embarrassment when Jagdish Tytler withdrew from the 'primary election' to decide the Congress Lok Sabha candidate for a Delhi constituency amid indications that the leadership had nudged him to pull out.

Tytler had filed his nomination from Delhi north-east and was to lock horns with sitting MP J P Aggarwal. The 'primary election' entails voting by an electoral college drawn from among Congress workers, with the winner declared the candidate for the coming LS polls. It is modeled on the "primaries" system of the US.

A former Union minister, Tytler carries the taint of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and a victory in the 'primaries' would have made him the party candidate with no power for the leadership to intervene. It would have landed the Congress in a spot given that protests from Sikh groups and political rivals BJP and AAP were certain.

Congress had in 2009 announced Tytler, along with Sajjan Kumar, as candidates from Delhi seats but was forced to drop them following protests from Sikh activists.

Given that Tytler had forcefully filed his nomination for the primaries and claimed that he had suffered a lot because of 1984 riot allegations, it was surprising that he tamely withdrew at the last moment.

However, sources said the issue should not be looked at solely from the Sikh riots angle and Tytler was aware that his nomination could be rejected. They pointed to the CBI case against him and arms dealer Abhishek Verma for allegedly forging a letter of then minister of state for home Ajay Maken in 2009.

According to the eligibility criteria for the primaries, Tytler's nomination faced rejection on Thursday evening if he had not pulled out in the afternoon, sources said.

There has been unease in Congress over Tytler staking claim for nomination for the coming elections. It is feared that pitching him in the polls would provide a strong opening to the rivals to target Congress which has lately seen the riots issue resurface in public discussions.

Rahul Gandhi's remark in an interview that some Congressmen were involved in the riots had revived allegations against the party, an aggression that suits BJP and its ally Akali Dal. In that sense, Congressmen were relieved that the forgery case spared the party of an unsavoury situation of having to field Tytler in the Lok Sabha polls.