Uniting India or breaking it?, asks BJP as Jagdish Tytler's appears at Cong's Bharat Jodo Yatra meet

Tagging a media report on Tytler's presence in the meeting, BJP's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said this has revealed the true face of Congress.

New Delhi, Dec 19: Former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler presence at Congress's party meeting regarding the preparations for the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Monday sparked controversy.

The BJP on Monday slammed the grand old party over the presence of Jagdish Tytler in All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting regarding the preparations for the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Tytler, once a formidable leader of the Congress in Delhi, had also served as a Union minister. He stepped down after his name was figured in a report of the Nanavati Commission which probed into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards that left thousands dead in the sectarian violence.

Tagging a media report on Tytler's presence in the meeting, BJP's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said this has revealed the true face of Congress.

''This is not Bharat Jodo but Congress ka Nafrat Jodo. Congress ka Haath hamesha Sikh Narsanghar ke saath. From Bada Ped girta hai comment to patronising Jagdish Tytler. The true face of Congress (sic),'' tweeted Poonawalla. This is not a walk to connect India but Congress' way to increase hatred. Congress is with those who are involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots).

With regard to the 'Bada Ped girta' hai comment, Poonawalla was referring to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's remark when Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984.

Tytler was also named by the Congress as a permanent invitee to the Delhi unit of the party last year. The Rahul Gandhi-led Yatra resumed from Dausa in Rajasthan on Monday with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader Sachin Pilot walking alongside the former Congress chief.

The yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari has traversed Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now, Rajasthan. It completed 100 days on Friday last.

The yatra will enter Delhi on December 24, and after a break of about eight days, move on to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and finally, Jammu and Kashmir.