After INC, BJP Leaders Condole Genocide-Convicted Kumar

September

2026

Former Haryana assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma has urged Indian National Congress (INC) president Mallikarjun Kharge to remove Rohtak Member of Parliament (MP) Deepender Hooda from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) over his remarks praising former party leader Sajjan Kumar. Former INC MP, 80-year-old Sajjan Kumar, died in Tihar jail, New Delhi on 20 Aug. He was convicted for the murders of seven Sikhs during the 1984 Sikh genocide and was serving three life sentences. Hooda and other INC leaders had called him an 'example' for all of north India. Sharma said Hooda’s comments had 're-opened the wounds' of the Sikh community and could damage the INC's prospects in Panjab, where the party faces elections in 2027. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, distanced himself from Hooda’s remarks, stating that the latter’s remarks could be his personal view. Furthermore, former Panjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s condemnation of Kumar has sparked unease within sections of INC. Khadoor Sahib Member of Parliament (MP), Amritpal Singh's father, Tarsem Singh from Akali Dal Waris Punjab De (WPD), praised Channi for speaking up for the Sikh community—a video clip that Channi later shared on his social media handles. Earlier, Tarsem had backed Channi after he raised the issue of alleged injustice to Amritpal in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) in July 2024. When questioned, Channi defended his stance, stating that there was nothing unusual in highlighting Sikh issues. 'I myself, being a Sikh, feel that pain regarding the unaddressed issues of the Sikh community.' Meanwhile, three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs, Ramvir Bidhuri, Yogender Chandolia, and Kamaljeet Sehrawat, visited Kumar's family home to pay their respects. Advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who recently joined BJP, said, 'I strongly condemn the visit of the three MPs to mass murderer Sajjan Kumar’s residence to offer condolences on his death. Sympathy should be reserved for victims and their families, many of whom live [with] the horror of those days even till now. I call for the boycott of these three MPs.' Phoolka said the visit is condemnable considering the BJP has always supported the Sikh genocide survivors' quest for justice by ensuring Kumar stayed in jail. BJP president Nitin Nabin has summoned the three MPs. He said, 'They shouldn't have gone' (earlier coverage).