Cong names Bolaria in final list, Tewari kept out

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17

The Congress today declared the remaining three candidates for the Punjab Assembly elections, naming former Akali leader and sitting MLA Inderbir Bolaria from Amritsar South, while rejecting the claim of former Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari from Ludhiana East.

The party chose to field local councillor Sanjay Talwar over Tewari, whose aides described the decision as a shocker and told The Tribune, “Wait and see.” Although a Congress source said Tewari would be accommodated in a bigger AICC role, Tewari, when contacted, said “no one had spoken to him about anything”.

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The denial came in the wake of opposition to Tewari’s nomination by Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu and his supporters, who said Tewari’s entry would disturb local power equations. Another grudge the Congress bore against the former minister was his decision not to fight 2014 Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana despite his name being finalised. Tewari offered to contest this time to “redeem his honour”, but the party denied him a nomination. 

Officially Congress today said Tewari had not applied for a ticket in Punjab. The argument doesn’t cut ice as the party has fielded many non-applicants.

Meanwhile, from Amritsar South, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi eventually settled for former Akali leader and sitting MLA Inderbir Bolaria, who was  expelled by Akali Dal was and once a blue eyed boy of Akali top gun Bikram Majithia.

In nominating Bolaria over local Congress man JS Dimpa, Gandhi banked on the counsel of Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh, who had inducted Bolaria into the Congress.

From Mansa, where Capt Amarinder’s aide BIS Chahal’s son was seeking a ticket, the Congress fielded Dr Manju Bansal, a local party leader. Bansal’s nomination fell into rough weather aalmost seconds after being made public with social media abuzz with reports of her husband facing a CBI sentence in a graft case.