Let Sonia decide state Cong chief: Manish Tewari

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari on Thursday said here that it was the prerogative of party president Sonia Gandhi to choose the Punjab party president, and the "duty of the loyal party men to accept".

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari on Thursday said here that it was the prerogative of party president Sonia Gandhi to choose the Punjab party president, and the "duty of the loyal party men to accept".

In a conversation with the media after inaugurating a tube-well at Swatantra Nagar in Ludhiana East assembly constituency, the former local MP refused to say who could be the best person to lead the state party unit. "Everybody in and outside Punjab knows who the best person is," he said, "Let us leave it to the Congress president, as she is the best judge."

Tewari asserted that the Congress was still number one party in Punjab in terms of popular support, and there was no reason for it not to come to power in 2017 with a thumping majority. However, he cautioned the party to act united and not be complacent.

He refused to comment on the rebellion in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying it was its internal matter. "It takes long time to settle down as a stable party," he remarked. Earlier, after inaugurating the tube-well dug with the money he provided during his stint as MP, Tewari lashed out at the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation for cutting down its budget by about `500 crore, saying it would have a bad impact on the civic amenities. "Even when the budget was Rs 1,300 crores, people were short of facilities; what will happen when it is slashed to Rs 800 crore?" he said.

Party leaders Pawan Dewan, Gurmel Pehalwan, Vikram Pehalwan, Baljinder Bunty, Satwinder Jawaddi, Rohit Pahwa, and Sunny Kainth were present.