Chandigarh Dec 13 (IANS): Opposing the move by the Congress to name former union Minister Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Shiromani Akali Dal said on Thursday that the Congress was "rewarding the perpetrators of genocide against the Sikhs".

"The Congress promotes and rewards the perpetrators of genocide against the Sikhs by proposing the name of Kamal Nath as Chief Minister," Akali Dal leader Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal said in a statement here.

"Apparently, the Gandhi family still rewards the leaders of Congress who were directly involved in the genocide in 1984, a period of shame for humanity as rioting against the innocent Sikhs was perpetrated by the leaders of Congress," Grewal said.

He alleged that Kamal Nath led a mob against the Sikhs in the Raqab Ganj gurdwara area in which young innocent boys were to death while he stood there.

The Congress is set to form the government in Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath was removed as the Congress in-charge for Punjab in 2016 following objections from Congress leaders in the Sikh-majority state.