As former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit took charge as the state Congress chief today, the presence of 1984 riots-accused Jagdish Tytler at the ceremony irked the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ally, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Tytler was seen seated in the front row, in response to which Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal told ANI: "Rahul ji is just continuing with his family tradition. It clearly shows that they have no respect for sentiments of the Sikhs."

More than 1,000 people were killed in the violence that erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. The Congress party has since been accused by the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) among others of shielding its leaders accused in the anti-Sikh riots.

The allegations picked pace again when another riot-accused leader, Sajjan Kumar, was sentenced to life in jail in December by the Delhi High Court.

Kamal Nath, another Congress leader whose name had cropped up in witness accounts, also faced protests after he was picked as Madhya Pradesh chief minister.

In April, 2018, Tytler had argued that charges against him had not been proved. He again said, today, "What can a man say when the court has given a verdict? You also mention my name. Why? Is there an FIR? Is there a case? No. Then why do you take my name? Someone said that and you believed it."