Anshu Seth
anshu.seth@hindustantimes.com
Ludhiana: Putting all speculations to rest, union minister for information and broadcasting Manish Tewari on Thursday said he was very much contesting from Ludhiana.
“I am waiting for the party to formally make the announcement. It is party discipline and we cannot jump the gun.” Tewari’s long and unex-plained absence from the constituency recently had fuelled rumours that he had “lost interest” in the Ludhiana seat. But Tewari said he was involved in party work which required him to be present in Delhi.
“I appreciate the concern shown by my esteemed opponents about my absence during the past few days. I want to assure them that I am returning in a few days. Let us not forget that those pointing to my absence are just seasonal birds themselves and have little or no stakes in Ludhiana and are here for a momentary purpose. You will soon see them vanishing into thin air after April 30, if not before,” Tewari said.
It is also learnt that the dissidents within the Congress were called to Delhi by the party high command and were directed to extend unequivocal support to Tewari. Interestingly, some former Congress councillors who earlier opposed Tewari have started giving statements in his favour.
Tewari, who had been giving all programmes in Ludhiana a miss, issued a statement through Ludhiana District Congress Committee (urban) president Pawan Dewan saying he was involved in the selection and finalisation of the candidates for across the country and would be back in Ludhiana to start his election campaign.
{{/usCountry}}Tewari, who had been giving all programmes in Ludhiana a miss, issued a statement through Ludhiana District Congress Committee (urban) president Pawan Dewan saying he was involved in the selection and finalisation of the candidates for across the country and would be back in Ludhiana to start his election campaign.
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