Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Saturday condemned Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda’s alleged remarks describing former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar as a “role model” and demanded that the Congress high command clarify the party’s position on the statement.Addressing a press conference, Dhaliwal said the wounds of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence were still alive among Sikh families and that such a remark was deeply hurtful to the Sikh community. He urged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge to take action against Hooda.Dhaliwal also questioned the silence of Punjab Congress leaders, including Partap Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. He demanded that they publicly clarify whether they endorsed Hooda’s statement and, if not, seek action against him.Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to Punjab and Amritsar, Dhaliwal said the Congress leadership should first clarify whether it stood with the families of victims of the 1984 violence or with leaders making such statements.He said the Sikh community could not forget Operation Blue Star and the violence reported in Delhi, Kanpur and other parts of the country in 1984. Such statements, he added, amounted to “rubbing salt into old wounds”.Dhaliwal also questioned the proposed BJP-SAD alliance, asking the Shiromani Akali Dal to explain the basis for any tie-up with the BJP after having accused national parties of weakening Punjab’s interests.He referred to BJP leader LK Advani’s book “My Country, My Life” and its references to Operation Blue Star, asking the Akali leadership how it would explain its political position to Punjab.He also questioned the SAD’s position on farmers’ issues, recalling Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s resignation from the Union Council of Ministers during the farm-law agitation. Dhaliwal asked what stand the Akali Dal would take before farmers if it again aligned with the BJP.Claiming that a BJP-SAD alliance would not affect the AAP, Dhaliwal said people of Punjab understood “old political alliances and politics of power” and would take their decision based on their interests.