Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh ON Tuesday lashed out at the Congress high command for appointing Ajay Maken as the chairman of the screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the next Assembly elections in Punjab.

In a statement today, Amarinder said Maken was the nephew of Lalit Maken, who was one of the main culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.

The Congress could not have nominated the worst person, than Maken, for the job as while on the one hand, the Central government is moving ahead with the prosecution of another culprit, Sajjan Kumar, while the Congress is rewarding the Makens and that too in Punjab, thus rubbing salt into Punjabis’ wounds, he said.

“The Congress party should have avoided naming someone like Maken, as the name itself draws derision and revulsion in Punjab for the involvement of his late uncle in the anti-Sikh riots where innocent victims were burnt alive to death”, the former CM said, while adding, even otherwise Maken was not qualified enough to head the screening committee with veteran leaders like Ambika Soni and Sunil Jakhar being kept under him.

He said Maken had presided over the two successive defeats of the party in Delhi Assembly elections, drawing back to back blank. “With someone who has presided over virtual wiping out of the party in Delhi, now being handed over the job in Punjab, the fate of the party can be anybody’s guess”, the former CM remarked.

“After ensuring that Congress got zero seats in two successive elections in Delhi in 2014 and 2019, he has now been dispatched to ensure that same feat is achieved in Punjab as well”, Amarinder said.

He said this clearly indicates that the party has admitted defeating before the elections by appointing a failed politician, who lost the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, losing even his deposit in the Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the Gandhi family was hell-bent on rehabilitating the kith and kin of senior leaders responsible for the 1984 Sikh genocide and said it had again sent a clear cut signal to the Sikh community that it would continue to patronize such elements by appointing Ajay Maken as the party’s screening committee chairman for allotment of tickets to party candidates for the 2022 Assembly elections in Punjab.