The suspense over Congress veteran Kamal Nath’s future in the grand old party continues, even as many leaders have expressed confidence that the 77-year-old leader will not switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Within the BJP too, many leaders have expressed reservation over Kamal Nath’s much-talked about entry into the party because of his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. These leaders have been targeting Kamal Nath over his involvement in the rights, and other issues.
“Many friends are calling and asking about Kamal Nath. I have told them on the phone and here also I am saying that the doors of BJP were neither open earlier nor are they now for Kamal Nath. (He is) The murderer of Sikhs and the one who burnt the Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. I assure you all that this will never be possible with Prime Minister @narendramodi ji,” Delhi BJP leader and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) secretary Tajinder Bagga posted in Hindi on X.
Kamal Nath’s presence at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj in the national capital during the rights on November 1, 1984 is an open secret, yet his role in the violence has never been fully established.
“Kamal Nath’s presence at the site of violence was confirmed by two of the senior-most police officers, Commissioner Subhash Tandan, and Additional Commissioner Gautam Kaul, as also by an independent source,” Manoj Mitta and H S Phoolka wrote in the 2007 book When a Tree Shook Delhi
The Nanavati Commission, to investigate the killing of innocent Sikhs in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, did not indict him, either. “Nanavati Commission in its report which is also available on internet has absolved me and said that in no way I have either instigated or participated in anti-Sikh riots,” Nath told a television channel in June 2016.
Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Kamal Nath arrived in Delhi on February 17 amid reports of their switch to the BJP. The nine-time Parliamentarian has not met any top BJP leaders. However, BJP’s Madhya Pradesh president VD Sharma said he was welcome in the party.
“If there is such a thing, I will inform you first,” Kamal Nath told reporters in Delhi regarding the buzz around his switch to the BJP.
Sources said Kamal Nath was in a sort of dillema whether or not to join the BJP amid a pressure from the Congress leadership to prevent the switch. Even some leaders within the Congress party think that the BJP would not let him in becasue of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots taint. These leaders think while Kamal Nath will not join the BJP, his son and Lok Sabha MP Nakul Nath may switch to the BJP.
The buzz within the BJP is also that inducting Kamal Nath would annoy Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the former alliance partner that the saffron party wants in the NDA fold ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP-SAD alliance talks have been put on hold for now, due to the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Many SAD leaders had accused Nath of instigating the riots outside Delhi’s Gurdwara Rakab Ganj. In 2018, when Kamal Nath became Cheif Minister of Madhya Pradesh, many Akali leaders such as Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Manjinder Singh Sirsa, now with the BJP, accused the Congress with rewarding perpetrators of genocide against the Sikhs.
Kamal Nath is reportedly unhappy over not being considered for Rajya Sabha by the party that he has been part of for over five decades of his political career. Many say Kamal Nath’s reason to join the BJP is to secure his son Nakul’s political future. Nakul is MP from Chhindwara.
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Published: 19 Feb 2024, 05:29 PM IST