Cong makes most of BJP’s late call

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 23

The Congress took full “advantage” of late announcement of the BJP candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. The party has been able to induct at least six senior leaders from various parties in the past 29 days.

The Congress’ decision of early announcement of the candidate has helped its Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh Pawan Kumar Bansal in two ways. While Bansal was able to calm down the dissidents within the party early, he also got ample time to plan his strategy. City Congress president Pradeep Chhbara said Bansal had not only held small meetings in various sectors, but had also been doing door-to-door campaigning. He said they covered the majority of the city area in the past 20 days.

No one had thought that BJP leader and former Mayor Gurcharan Dass Kala and BSP candidate Jannat Jahan would join the Congress, said another senior leader of the Congress. BSP candidate Jannat Jahan had polled a sizable 48,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha poll. So far, no one had revolted against Bansal within the party, he added.

Even former Union Minister Manish Tewari, who was one of the contenders for the party ticket from Chandigarh, has also come out openly in support of Bansal after himself being nominated from the adjoining constituency of Anandpur Sahib.

Four Cong strategists

City Congress president Pradeep Chhabra has been organising meetings and attending rallies at various places. From campaigning to running the office, he has been in-charge of everything.

Former councillor and media in-charge Mukesh Bassi has been active behind the scene. He played a key role in the re-joining of Satish Kainth. Bassi has been handling campaign and coordinating with the media for Bansal.

Though Sunil Parti is the media advisor of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he worked behind the scene for Bansal. It was Parti who played a major role in convincing former Mayor Gurcharan Kala to rejoin the Congress.

General secretary and senior party leader Devinder Singh Babla has been in constant touch with the leaders of the other parties and those who left the Congress earlier to bring them back to the party-fold.