He was taken to Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors declared him dead , news agency PTI reported. Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted in cases linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday while serving a life sentence in Tihar jail.
From Delhi councillor to Lok Sabha MP
He was sworn in as a councillor the same year and went on to emerge as an influential Congress politician in the capital. Following his conviction, Kumar resigned from the primary membership of the Congress. A fact-finding report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) concluded that the violence was not simply a spontaneous reaction to Indira Gandhi’s assassination, but involved a coordinated attack allegedly orchestrated by Congress politicians. The allegations and subsequent convictions transformed Kumar’s public legacy.
Sajjan Kumar began his political career in Delhi, winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election in 1977. More than two decades later, Kumar reached Parliament, winning the 2004 Lok Sabha election from Outer Delhi. His political career, however, became closely associated with allegations surrounding the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which erupted after the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. A politician who had risen from Delhi’s municipal politics to the Lok Sabha became one of the most prominent Congress figures associated with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Earlier reporting noted: Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, Convicted In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case, Dies Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, Convicted In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case, Dies Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, Convicted In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case, Dies Earlier reporting noted: Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving life imprisonment in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in connection with a 1984 riots case, was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital after his health deteriorated, where the doctors declared him brought dead. He was 80. Earlier reporting noted: Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018. The high court had found him guilty of having caused the death of five people during an incident of rioting in the Palam Colony area on November 1 and 2, 1984, post the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Kumar told mobs to avenge the killing of the Congress leader, who was described as their “mother”, according to the allegations.
