The Congress, which has faced defeat in the past two Lok Sabha elections in Chandigarh, has high stakes in the upcoming contest. This time, the party has joined forces with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as part of the INDIA bloc and has fielded two-time MP Manish Tewari as its candidate. Tewari is facing a strong challenge from the BJP’s debutant nominee, Sanjay Tandon.
Riding on the Narendra Modi wave in 2014, BJP’s Kirron Kher defeated four-time MP Pawan Kumar Bansal by 69,642 votes. In 2019 again, Bansal lost to Kher by 46,970 votes. This time, the Congress is highlighting Kher’s long absence from the UT, predominantly because of her poor health, claiming she was not available for people when they needed her, particularly in the battle against Covid.
The Congress rout continued in the mayoral polls in 2016 and it failed to win the mayor’s post for seven years till the alliance nominee, Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor of the AAP, won this year after the Supreme Court intervened. The BJP was on the backfoot as returning officer Anil Masih bungled up in counting.
Tewari faces challenges in countering the BJP campaign as its candidate is local and has the support of the party’s strong organizational structure. However, Tewari must also address the infighting within the Congress party, particularly over the denial of a ticket to former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Despite the alliance with the Congress, the AAP has failed to capitalize on the gains it made in its debut general election in Chandigarh in 2014, when Gul Panag led the party’s campaign. Though she ranked third, the AAP secured 1.08 lakh votes of out of 6.1 lakh votes, giving rise to a third front in the city. However, the party performed poorly in the 2019 general election in Chandigarh and has been unable to maintain its momentum.
The Chandigarh AAP co-incharge Dr. SS Ahluwalia is confident that the combine will register a historic win, but the alliance faces an uphill battle against the BJP’s strong presence in the city.
