Tewari hits the ground running after landing in Chandigarh, BJP hurls ‘outsider’ barb

A day after being given the Congress ticket to contest from Chandigarh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Manish Tewari reached the city on Sunday.
To be backed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress’ INDIA bloc partner, Tewari will take on BJP’s Sanjay Tandon, a Lok Sabha poll debutant, in the June 1 election.
Tewari went to city Congress president HS Lucky’s residence in Sector 8, where he was welcomed by party workers.
Meanwhile, reacting to his candidature, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) labelled Tewari as an outsider, stating he had previously won from Anandpur Sahib and Ludhiana, and had no experience of working in Chandigarh.
Interacting with media, Tewari said it was a battle to form the INDIA bloc government at the national level and he was all geared up for it. He added that he will be meeting party workers and devising a poll strategy with focus on issues concerning city’s development.
He slammed the BJP at the Centre for its policies and highlighted that the Congress manifesto aimed to free people from the burden of inflation.
On Monday, Tewari will attend a programme at Congress Bhawan in Sector 35, where he will be meeting party workers.
I accept party’s decision: Bansal
The Congress picked Tewari over four-time Chandigarh MP and eight-time Lok Sabha contestant from the city Pawan Kumar Bansal, 75, who was also vying for the ticket.
While talking to HT on Sunday, Bansal said he accepted the party’s decision (of not giving him the ticket). He added that he was a true Congressmen and will never go against the party.
Releasing a press release, Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra called the Congress a “thug party”, as they had given the ticket to a candidate who first won from Ludhiana and then from Anandpur Sahib, and had never contested from Chandigarh
Welcoming Tewari, BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon said the saffron fold was “10 times more prepared” than the Congress, adding that the Chandigarh seat will certainly be clinched by the BJP.
Congress vice-president threatens to resign over notice
Chandigarh Congress vice-president Hafiz Anwar Ul Haq said he will resign from the post as he had been issued a show-cause notice by party president HS Lucky to apologise for his alleged misbehaviour during a party meeting last month.
As per the notice, during a meeting on March 27, when All India Congress Committee Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh in-charge Rajeev Shukla had visited the city, Haq used derogatory language and also gave statements to the media against Lucky.
Talking to HT, Haq alleged that Lucky hatched a conspiracy to erase Bansal’s chances for a ticket and will now do the same with Tewari to make him lose the elections. “My team of workers has been removed from Ward Number 4. I am not allowed to work, not called for meetings. We raised slogans in favour of Pawan Bansal during that meeting because Lucky’s supporters were raising slogan in his (Lucky’s) favour. Still, I am being targeted and have been asked to apologise,” said Haq while adding that he will resign from the post.
Meanwhile, local unit secretary Nitin Rai Chauhan resigned from his post in support of Bansal. He wrote on social media site X that he does not accept an “outsider” as the Lok Sabha candidate, as he supported Bansal.