Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 5
Former minister Manish Tewari’s decision to opt out of the 2014 Lok Sabha race has stood in the way of his nomination from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi personally intervening to keep the seat pending.
Tewari’s candidature has been withheld even though his was the only name on the panel of nominees from Anandpur Sahib which party veteran Ambika Soni contested unsuccessfully in 2014.
Highly placed sources told The Tribune the declaration of Tewari’s nomination was halted after a discussion at the party’s central election committee (CEC) on his 2014 refusal to contest the Lok Sabha seat elections, then the sitting Ludhiana MP. The Congress had declared his candidature from the seat but he pulled out of the race.
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar is learnt to have flagged the ex-minister’s 2014 decision at the meeting, saying it was a “cause of concern for state leaders seeking the ticket in Punjab”. He is said to have told the CEC that Punjab leaders were questioning if Tewari was to be rewarded with the party ticket after his 2014 move.
“The Congress president and Punjab party chief Sunil Jakhar were on the same page on the issue of Tewari having declined to contest in 2014 when the party needed him to. They flagged this as a matter of principles even when a majority of leaders were for approving Tewari’s name,” said a source.
It’s also learnt that Rahul Gandhi asked at the meeting why Tewari was keen on the Anandpur Sahib seat alone. A Congress source said he directed that the Anandpur Sahib nomination be kept “pending” even after though CEC members, including former PM Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and some veterans, wanted Tewari’s name be cleared.
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, AICC incharge for the state Asha Kumari and Ambika Soni were also in favour of Tewari. They suggested only his name to the CEC from Anandpur Sahib though Soni did not attend the April 2 meeting.
Congress veterans who backed Tewari said his 2014 mistake could be overlooked. “Some CEC members spoke of how so many leaders had in the past deserted the party, returned and then contested on the party ticket,” a CEC member said. The ball on Manish Tewari’s candidature is now in Rahul Gandhi’s court.
NAMES WITHHELD
The CEC has also withheld three other single-panel nominations:
Kewal Dhillon from Sangrur
JS Dimpa from Khadoor Sahib
Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2OS55JM
via Today’s News Headlines
No comments: