Three sitting BJP Members of Parliament from Delhi are facing disciplinary censure from party national vice-president Nitin Nabin after they visited Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to offer condolences following a bereavement in his family, according to party sources familiar with the matter. The reprimand underscores persistent internal tension within the Bharatiya Janata Party over how its legislators engage with figures associated with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The three MPs, whose identities have not been officially disclosed by the party, are reported to have travelled to Kumar’s residence to condole the death. Nabin, who oversees the BJP’s Delhi unit as part of his organisational responsibilities, communicated his displeasure directly to the legislators and indicated that such visits were inappropriate given Kumar’s legal and political history, the sources said. The communication reportedly carried an explicit warning that repeating such visits would invite formal disciplinary action.
The episode comes against the backdrop of a long-running sensitivity inside the BJP over the 1984 violence, in which officially more than 2,700 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and other cities in the days following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The party has for decades positioned itself as a vocal critic of the Congress’s handling of the riots and has repeatedly demanded accountability from the grand old party.
What Happened
According to the party sources, the three Delhi BJP MPs visited Sajjan Kumar’s home in recent days to express condolences after a family member’s death. The visit, a routine social courtesy in Indian political culture, came to the attention of the Delhi BJP leadership, after which Nabin summoned or contacted the legislators to convey his displeasure. The MPs were told that visiting a person convicted for involvement in the anti-Sikh riots was inconsistent with the party’s stated position and politically damaging.
Party sources indicated that further action, including possible show-cause notices, has not been ruled out depending on the response of the three parliamentarians. The Delhi BJP unit has not issued a formal public statement on the matter, and none of the three MPs has been named in official communication. The identities of the bereaved family member and the date of the condolence visit have likewise not been disclosed publicly.
Why It Matters
The reprimand is significant because it shows the BJP’s central leadership actively policing symbolic political acts by its own elected representatives, particularly those touching on the 1984 riots. For a party that has made accountability for the violence a central plank of its political messaging against the Congress, any gesture of warmth or courtesy toward a convicted riot accused risks being read as a contradiction of that posture. By rebuking the MPs rather than letting the matter pass quietly, the leadership appears to be signalling that the political cost of association with Kumar outweighs the social cost of appearing to snub a bereaved family.
The episode also reflects the pressure on political parties to maintain message discipline across all levels of the organisation. With Delhi being a high-visibility state and a longstanding priority for the BJP, the conduct of the capital’s elected representatives is treated as especially consequential.
Background and Context
Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress MP from the South Delhi parliamentary constituency, was convicted in December 2018 by a Delhi court of murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. His conviction was one of the most high-profile outcomes of decades of legal proceedings seeking accountability for the violence, which had seen successive investigations and commissions of inquiry. Kumar was released from jail in 2021 after serving his sentence.
The 1984 riots remain a politically charged subject in Indian public life. Official figures place the death toll at more than 2,700 Sikhs, though Sikh community organisations and rights groups have consistently argued the actual number is higher. The Congress was accused at the time and in subsequent decades of shielding those responsible, an allegation the party has consistently denied. For the BJP, particularly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the riots have featured prominently in political attacks on the Congress, and the party has cited the issue in multiple election campaigns.
At the same time, Indian political culture places considerable value on condolence visits when a public figure or their family suffers a bereavement. Crossing party lines to offer condolences is a long-established norm, and visits to the homes of political opponents in moments of personal loss are generally treated as obligatory courtesies. The BJP’s decision to formally reprimand its own MPs for extending that courtesy to Kumar therefore represents a notable departure from that convention, suggesting the party views the optics of the visit as politically untenable.
Analysis:
The episode reflects the BJP’s effort to enforce internal discipline on symbolic political acts, particularly those involving figures tied to the 1984 riots. The party’s leadership has consistently used the riots as a political instrument against the Congress, and visits by BJP parliamentarians to Kumar’s home risk undercutting that posture. The public nature of the reprimand, rather than a private warning, signals the leadership’s concern about image management on a long-standing and emotionally charged issue.
The incident also raises broader questions about how the party calibrates political courtesies — such as condolence visits — against its own messaging. A visit to condole a death is a customary social obligation in Indian political culture, and the decision to publicly chastise sitting MPs suggests the BJP leadership views the optics of association with Kumar as politically damaging enough to warrant internal censure. The choice to withhold the names of the three MPs, meanwhile, suggests the party is seeking to enforce discipline without amplifying the story further.
What to Watch Next
Whether the three MPs are formally issued show-cause notices or face any organisational penalty will be a key indicator of how seriously the leadership is treating the matter. Any public statement from the Delhi BJP unit, or from the three legislators themselves, would also shape the political fallout. The episode is likely to draw attention from Sikh community organisations and from the Congress, both of which have historically been invested in how the 1984 riots are publicly remembered. Future visits by BJP representatives to figures linked to the riots are also likely to be handled with greater caution, given the precedent set by this reprimand.
Conclusion
The rebuke of three Delhi BJP MPs for visiting Sajjan Kumar illustrates the continuing sensitivity of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots within Indian politics and the lengths to which the BJP is prepared to go to police symbolic alignment with its own messaging. Whether the disciplinary action extends beyond a verbal warning remains to be seen, but the episode has already made clear that the party leadership views any gesture toward Kumar as incompatible with its political position on the riots.
Sources:
India Today — https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bjp-nitin-nabin-reprimands-three-delhi-mps-over-sajjan-kumar-condolence-visit-2982338-2026-08-29
Corrections
If you believe this article contains an error, contact Herald Express with the source URL and supporting evidence.
Story synopsis gathered from: India Today – India — source
