BJP chief Nitin Nabin has summoned the three MPs—Ramvir Bidhuri, Yogender Chandoliya and Kamaljeet Sehrawat—over their visit. “They shouldn't have gone,” Nabin said.
Sajjan Kumar, 80, died earlier this month while serving a life sentence for killing five men during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He had been suffering from health issues including high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease.
Several Haryana Congress leaders, including Hooda, were quick to condole Kumar's death. Hooda subsequently faced criticism from members of his own party over the gesture, given Kumar's controversial past and the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
Kumar was a former Congress MP. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from the Outer Delhi constituency on a Congress ticket. Even after the 1984 riots, he was elected twice on Congress tickets, in 1991 and 2004.
In 2010, Kumar was charged with murder, rioting, criminal conspiracy and inciting violence during the riots. Witnesses alleged that he had delivered inflammatory speeches and provided rioters with Rs 100 and liquor.
In 2018, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1984 riots. In 2025, a Delhi court convicted him in a second case for instigating and participating in the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son, Tarundeep Singh, on November 1, 1984.
Kumar's death has continued to draw political reactions, particularly in Sikh-dominated Punjab. Several Congress leaders, including former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, criticised Hooda over his condolence message.
The BJP had also strongly criticised Kumar and Hooda. However, the visit by the three BJP MPs has now given political opponents an opportunity to target the party.
AAP leader Baltej Pannu said, “Now the real face of the BJP has also come to the fore. On the occasion of Sajjan Kumar's final bhog, three BJP Members of Parliament were present. These included West Delhi MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat, South Delhi MP Rambir Singh Bidhuri, and Northwest Delhi MP Yogender Chandolia.”
Delhi AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj also targeted the BJP, saying the three MPs continued to sympathise with the riot convict.
“The hearts of BJP MPs Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Yogendra Chandolia, and Ramvir Singh Bidhuri still beat for convicted 1984 Sikh riots killer Sajjan Kumar,” he wrote on X.
BJP leader HS Phoolka, who fought a long legal battle over the Sikh riots case, also condemned the MPs' visit to Kumar's residence.
“Strongly condemn the visit of 3 MPs Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, and Yogender Chandolia to mass murderer Sajjan Kumar's residence to offer condolences on his death. This is when the BJP has always supported our quest for justice against these culprits and supported us in ensuring that he stays in jail. Sympathy should be reserved for victims and their families-many of whom live the horror of those days even till now. I call for the boycott of these 3 MPs,” he wrote on the social media platform.
The controversy has now put the three BJP MPs under scrutiny within their own party, with BJP chief Nitin Nabin making clear that their visit to Sajjan Kumar's residence should not have taken place.
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