With Congress candidates like Sajjan Kumar, R K Anand and Jagdish Tytler, the BJP, it would seem, doesn’t have to do much to appeal to the Sikh vote. But South Delhi candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra isn’t taking any chances. Especially when he has a willing ‘‘friend’’ in National Commission for Minorities chairman Tarlochan Singh. Result: a four-page eulogy written and signed by Singh rooting for Malhotra, which is now an election pamphlet. The title couldn’t be less subtle: Malhotra is called the Punjabiyon ka Masiha (Messiah of the Punjabis). Being distributed in South Delhi, especially near gurdwaras, the pamphlet, written in Hindi and Punjabi, has a huge picture of Malhotra. Beneath it the author is identified as Tarlochan Singh, chairman, National Commission for Minorities. On the back page, too, this is repeated. The reason isn’t far to find. Singh gushes: ‘‘Woh aaye din Punjabi ke haq mein kuchh na kuchh karya karte rehte hain parantu kuchh karya unhone aise kiye hain jo Dilli ka itihaas ban chuke hain (Every now and then he does something in the Punjabi interest but some of his deeds are now part of Delhi’s history).’’ He gives Malhotra the credit for all good things that have happened to Punjabis and Sikhs in Delhi in the last 40 years: handing over of the Chandni Chowk Kotwali to Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, recognition of Punjabi as Delhi’s second official language, names of roads and streets in Punjabi, and creation of the Punjabi Academy. To strike an emotional chord, Singh recalls how Malhotra saved lives of Sikh families during the 1984 riots and helped victims in the relief camps: ‘‘Isliye Malhotraji ko Dilli ke Sikh ek dost aur kathin samay par kaam aane wale ek leader ke roop mein jaante hain (this is why Malhotraji is known as a friend of Sikhs in Delhi and a leader who will help them in difficult times).’’ Of the nearly 10-lakh electorate in Malhotra’s South Delhi constituency, Punjabi and Sikh votes total 190,000, spread across the Assembly segments of Kalkaji, Malviya Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar and Rajouri Garden. When The Indian Express contacted Tarlochan Singh, he said: ‘‘I wrote this article five months ago, much before the elections, for a Punjabi magazine. Malhotra and I are good friends. I wrote what he did for the community. The BJP then decided to use the article for Malhotra’s campaign.’’ Asked about the propriety of using his name and designation on a BJP pamphlet, he replied: ‘‘No, there is no reason to object. I have not issued any election appeal. There is no mention of elections here.’’ Malhotra, too, sees nothing wrong with the pamphlet: ‘‘There’s nothing wrong in it. When commission chiefs can contest elections, why can’t Tarlochan Singh write about me?’’ He added that Singh had not issued any public appeal in his favour. Recently, Singh, speaking to The Indian Express had singled out Muslims and Sikhs for what he claimed was their tendency to put their religion before their nationality.
