INDIA bloc’s Manish Tewari takes early lead in Chandigarh

Tewari, a two-time MP, secured 50,026 votes and BJP’s Sanjay Tandon 44,686 votes after the third round of counting

Former Union minister and INDIA bloc candidate from Chandigarh Manish Tewari took an early lead over his Bharatiya Janata Party rival Sanjay Tandon after the three rounds of counting.

Counting underway at the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (CCET) inSector 26 on Tuesday. (Keshav Singh/HT)

Tewari, a two-time MP, secured 50,026 votes and Tandon 44,686 votes.

This is Tandon’s debut election after Kirron Kher, who represented Chandigarh in the Lok Sabha after winning the 2014 and 2019 elections on the BJP ticket, opted out.

In 2019, Kher had won the seat with a lead of 46,000 votes against Congress’ Pawan Kumar Bansal. The Congress replaced Bansal with Tewari, who was shifted from Anandpur Sahib constituency. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are fighting this election in alliance in Chandigarh.

The poll percentage in Chandigarh saw a fall of 2% in the June 1 elections as compared to 2019. 68% votes were polled against 70.6% in 2019 and 73.7% in 2014.