In Chandigarh, INDIA bloc nominee Manish Tewari vows to make up for the loss of 10 years

Chandigarh: The INDIA bloc candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, Manish Tewari, on Friday assured the residents of the city that he will make up for the loss of 10 years under the BJP rule if voted to power.

Unlike the BJP, the Congress has a multi-pronged vision for development, which not only takes into account the needs of the nation as a whole but also the local needs, besides reaching out to help needy individuals like the unemployed youth or poor families by providing them direct monthly income, the senior Congress leader said.

Tewari was interacting with people at various markets and residential areas in Sectors 52, 21, and 22.

He said Chandigarh lost 10 years due to the 'callous' indifference of the BJP dispensation that ruled right from the city up to the national capital.

“The BJP had everything at its disposal and yet the city slid in every aspect, so much so that the City Beautiful is no longer counted among the cleanest cities in the country,” Tewari said.

“I have a vision, which I will soon spell out, for building a prosperous and progressive Chandigarh, where development won't take the backseat anymore,” he told the people during his interactions.

Tewari, who has been a decorated Parliamentarian and former Union Minister, maintained that the Congress has a multi-pronged strategy and approach towards progress and development.

He said that while there is a well-defined vision for nation-building, the Congress also has specific plans for local area development and above all, reaching out to individuals like the unemployed youth and poor women, by providing them direct monthly income.

Tewari referred to the party’s ‘Grahlakshmi’ scheme promise under which one woman in every poor family will receive Rs 8,500 every month, which comes to Rs 1 lakh a year, directly into her bank account,

In Chandigarh, Tewari is up against BJP's Sanjay Tandon, whom the party picked after dropping two-term sitting MP and actor-turned-politician Kirron Kher.

While Tandon has connected with the people of Chandigarh for four decades, Tewari is backed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has named three-time city councillor Hardeep Singh Saini as its candidate, making the election a three-cornered contest.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, SAD was in an alliance with the BJP.

Tewari (59), who has been labelled an “outsider” by the BJP despite being born and brought up in the city, has been the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the UPA government. He’s the outgoing MP from Anandpur Sahib, and a former MP from Ludhiana, both in Punjab.

During his pre-university days in Chandigarh, Tewari, who was a nominated councillor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation from 2011-2016, joined the youth wing of the Congress and rose to become the All India Youth President before becoming the Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

BJP nominee Tandon’s father, Balramji Dass Tandon, was a founding member of the Jan Sangh in 1951.

He was also the Deputy CM of Punjab from 1969-70, and served as an MLA for six terms. He was the President of Punjab BJP from 1995 to 1997.