The candidature of two prominent leaders of the Congress party in India, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, were withdrawn from their constituencies in the capital city of Delhi following protests by Sikhs.

The withdrawal of these two candidates follows what has come to be known as the Shoe-gate in India. A Sikh correspondent of the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran hurled a shoe at the Home (Interior) Minister, P. Chidambaram, during a press conference in Delhi saying he was dissatisfied with the minister’s response to his questions and supplementary questions.

Chidambaram not only condoned the journalist but also refused to press charges against him. Chidambaram said he appreciates the sentiments of the journalist. His objection was to the journalist’s attempt to turn the press conference into a debate. He acknowledged that there was indeed delay in handing out justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-sikh riots which were spurred by the assassination of the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh body guards.

While the Congress claimed that the charges against the candidates have not been proved, there is widespread belief that the two were involved in instigating violence in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Both the candidates were believed to be sure shot winners for Congress from the capital. The premier federal investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, gave a clean chit to both the candidates for the second time recently.

Several Sikh organizations blocked rail traffic in Punjab, which is the home state of Sikhs in India, following the shoe-throwing incident.

In response to a question from a television channel, Jagdish Tytler said that he condemned the anti-sikh riots but contended that he was innocent. Tytler also blamed the Shiromani Akali Dal (a Sikh political party of Punjab) and it’s coalition partner the Bharatiya Janata Party for whipping up the issue. The coalition of these two parties are believed to be headed for a debacle in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

Sajjan Kumar said he was a soldier of the Congress party and that he had stepped down in deference to the party’s decision. The Congress party decided to pull back these two candidates in view of the political cost it may have to pay following the Sikh protests.

The deputy chief minister of Punjab and senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, skirted questions by the same television channel when it asked him whether he condemns the attack on the former prime minister by her Sikh bodyguards.