Congress's Manish Tewari plays PM Modi gambit to hit back at BJP's 'outsider' tag
CHANDIGARH: With Manish Tewari being fielded by the Congress from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat against the BJP's Sanjay Tandon, a debate has kicked off over which of them has the better claim to be a local.
The BJP had charged that Tewari had no experience of working in the city and termed him as 'Ticket Badlo'. Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra told The New Indian Express that the Congress has given the ticket to a candidate who first fought from Ludhiana and then from Anandpur Sahib.
In response, Tewari told TNIE, "BJP cadres have been spreading that I am a outsider and not from Chandigarh. I was born and brought up in the city and thus have better claim over the city. You should ask them if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from Varanasi. These are parliamentary elections and not local municipality polls."
Asked about Tewari's comment on PM Modi, the BJP's Malhotra said, "PM Modi has twice contested from Varanasi and won. He never changed his seat."
Tewari was born in the city and did his schooling from St John’s High School in Sector 26 and his BA (Economic) from DAV College in Sector 10. His mother Amrit Tewari was former dean of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and research (PGIMER) and was also nominated councillor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. His father VN Tewari was a professor in Panjab University.
Supporters of Tewari pointed out that the BJP candidate Tandon was born in Amritsar.
Tandon is the son of former Punjab cabinet minister and Chhattisgarh governor Balramji Das Tandon, who died in 2018. He was president of the Chandigarh BJP for many years. He has authored a series of inspirational stories called Sunrays, along with his wife Priya, the daughter of M.M. Punchhi who retired as the Chief Justice of India.
After the Congress declared Tiwari as its candidate from Chandigarh, a few party leaders who are close to former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal resigned from their posts. These include vice-president of the local unit of the party Hafiz Anwar Ul Haq, Chandigarh INTUC president Naseeb Jakhar, women wing president Deepa Dubey and Ravi Thakur.