“BJP will be wiped off in South, halved in North”: Congress’ Manish Tewari as he engages with voters during morning walk

Chandigarh [India], April 30 (ANI): 0ut and about for a morning stroll by the Sukhna Lake, former Union Minister and the Congress’ Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari caught up with locals, engaged with them and also exchanged greetings as part of his campaign for the general elections on Tuesday.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of his campaign, the senior Congress leader said, “Me and my campaign team decided to take a walk by the Sukhna Lake this morning, meeting and engaging with locals while we were at it. We received a lot of love and affection from the people here. There’s a culture of fitness here in Chandigarh and we decided to be a part of it and promote physical activity in the interest of staying fit and healthy.”

Scoffing at the BJP over its campaign slogan of ‘Abki Bar 400 Paar’ (This Time, more than 400 seats), Tewari said, “The BJP will be wiped out in the South and will be down to half (of what it accrued in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections) up North. They should consider themselves lucky to even cross 150 seats this time. Coming June 4, the ruling party at the Centre will be taken by a nasty surprise as the INDIA bloc will form the government.”

The former Union Minister is up against BJP’s Sanjay Tandon from the prestigious seat, which serves as the administrative capitals of both the Punjab and Haryana governments. Polling in Chandigarh is scheduled to be held on June 1.

Accusing the BJP of peddling lies through its social media platforms, amid the controversy over an alleged fake video claiming that the ruling party at the Centre is against reservations, the Congress leader said, “BJP runs a factory on social media that churns out lies and canards (against the Opposition). No one can compete with them when it comes to selling lies. So, for them to accuse someone else of spreading lies, is baseless and unfounded.”

On the claim by former NDA ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), that it came under greater scrutiny of the central investigating agencies since it exited the ruling alliance at the Centre, Tewari said, “It is true that BJP fights elections on the strength of the three agencies at its disposal–Income Tax, ED (Directorate of Enforcement), and the CBI. It’s unfortunate that such blatant misuse of the central probe agencies is being overlooked by the Election Commission.”

The Akalis partnered with the BJP-led NDA during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, but the tie-up failed to produce the desired the electoral dividend.