Congress gets brickbats for Bhagat’s return

Manjeet Singh, director of the Punjab Transport Company and a resident of Preet Vihar asserts that the Sikhs would en masse boycott the Congress if the killer of Sikhs is given a ticket. “The courts will punish him. All the Sikhs know he is a killer. He was close to Indira Gandhi and ordered the killing of innocent Sikhs after she was assassinated. East Delhi has a sizable Sikh presence and we will ensure his defeat if the Congress gives him a ticket,” Singh says emotionally.

His brother Sukhjeet is in fact mobilizing support to meet Sonia Gandhi and request her to ensure Bhagat is not given a ticket. Gurcharan Singh Babbar, president, All India Shiromani Akali Dal (Babbar), says: “There are four cases pending against him and several other affidavits. He is one of the main accused in the carnage that left 5,000 people dead in 1984. Doesn’t this mean anything to the Congress?”

Bhagat’s political career was virtually written-off after his expulsion from the Congress in 1997 after he decided to contest the bye-elections as an independent. The party had refused to give him a ticket after his defeat in 1991 Lok Sabha polls.

Says senior counsel R.K. Anand: “A person can not be debarred from contesting elections just because there are several cases pending against him. Though there have been instances, especially last year, when the Congress denied tickets to several senior leaders because they had been chargesheeted.”

“Legally speaking, unless the conviction is upheld by the highest court of the country, the Supreme Court, you can not debar anyone from contesting elections. Morally speaking, it is the choice of an individual. But we have to realise that in a country where increasing criminalisation of politics is the order of the day, it is nothing new. Every party is doing the same.”Former union Law Minister Shanti Bhushan feels that there is nothing wrong in his induction, though contesting the polls is another matter. “Even if there are cases pending against him, he can be made a member of the party.

But the Congress will be sullying it’s own image if it decides to field Bhagat in the coming elections.”

“Why is it necessary to give him a ticket? I’m sure that a responsible national party like the Congress can find a better candidate. Because even though he has not been convicted, the fact is that he is accused of a serious offence. And they would lose their standing amongst the Sikh community all across the country, if they do decide to allow him to contest.”

Bhagat, meanwhile has already started doing the round of his east Delhi constituency. Speaking on his behalf, his son Deepak Bhagat said: “He would certainly contest elections if the party high command decides to give him a ticket.”

Dismissing the cases against his father as being `politically motivated’ he said: “The cases are pending in the court and we have full faith that justice will be done and he would be exonerated.”

Says Baby Srivastava, wife of a doctor and a resident of the posh Anand Vihar area of east Delhi: “Bhagat only helped the bijli chors and land grabbers. They are his vote banks. It is thanks to him that we have thousands of unauthorised colonies and jhuggi clusters. And they are also perpetrating crime.”

Kalpana Trikha, a primary school teacher living in Patparganj echoes. “Even if you leave aside the Sikh sentiments what has Bhagat done for East Delhi ? Has he ever raised his voice against the power crisis or the sanitation problem. All he does is visit the slums and ensure that the illegal power that they tap is not disconnected,” she says.

These mushrooming slums and unauthorised colonies are Bhagat’s bastion. “We know Bhagat and he understands us. He does not treat us like the scum of the earth. We have all along voted for him and shall continue to do so,” says Prakash Kumar, a rickshaw puller living in the Pushta adjacent to the Geeta colony.

“What has the BJP done for us. Once they got our votes they forgot us and the police continues to harass us,” says Fakruddin, a rag picker.

“He has to come back to us and assure us that we will lead a better life.

Promise us water, electricity and toilets. The BJP wants to throw us out. Bhagat will be our protector,” says Salma Begum, wife of a boatman.

In pockets of north-west Delhi which also form a part of the East Delhi parliamentary constituency Bhagat fares poorly in public opinion. “East Delhi is like mini-India. It has people from Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and not to forget the local Jats and Gujjars. People also vote on caste lines though not always en block. The Jats and Gujjars too owe little to Bhagat now. Because once he was routed he never looked back to see how they are faring,” says a prominent east Delhi Congress leader.