Former Haryana assembly speaker Kuldeep Sharma on Sunday asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to remove Rohtak member of Parliament Deepender Hooda from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) over his remarks praising former party leader Sajjan Kumar.
Hooda and Sharma were once close associates who have since fallen out. Several Congress leaders in Punjab immediately distanced themselves and the party from Deepender Hooda’s remarks on Kumar. “The Congress had disassociated itself completely from Sajjan Kumar.
Therefore, in order to heal the wounds that have now been reopened, Deepender Hooda should be removed from the CWC so as to demonstrate the bona fides of the party, as such immature and irresponsible remarks have weakened the party in the eyes of a community that is very relevant in Punjab,’’ Sharma said. Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that it was unacceptable to praise Sajjan Kumar, who died in prison for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh violence. In his letter to Kharge, the former Haryana assembly speaker said Hooda’s comments could damage the Congress’s prospects in Punjab, where elections are due in 2027. Earlier reporting noted: Controversial former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving two life sentences in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died at the age of 80 on August 20.
In a letter to Kharge, Sharma said Hooda’s comments “re-opened the wounds” of the Sikh community and could hurt the Congress’s prospects in Punjab, where the party faces elections. Kumar is a disgrace to humanity, Channi said in a statement after Hooda paid tributes to Kumar. “Far from being a role model, even uttering his name is a sin…He should have been shot publicly,” said the former chief minister. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said Hooda’s comments may be his “personal view”, but stressed that for many, the wounds of the riots were still fresh. The former speaker said that after the farmers’ agitation, the Sikh community backed the Congress but this could change after Hooda’s statement. Earlier reporting noted: Sajjan Kumar row: Punjab Congress distances itself from Hooda’s ‘irreparable loss’ remark Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and party MP Charanjit Singh Channi have distanced themselves from party colleague Deepender Singh Hooda’s remarks describing Sajjan Kumar ’s death an “irreparable loss”. Earlier reporting noted: Condoling his death, Hooda, the Congress MP from Rohtak, had said that Kumar’s death was a “loss to the country’s political landscape” and praised his “connect with people and contribution to Delhi’s development”.
