‘Haath has picked up the jhadu’: Manish Tewari makes a Congress-AAP pitch for Chandigarh

Dressed in a white T-shirt and tracksuit, Manish Tewari briskly walks along Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake at 6.45 am, greeting people out on their morning walk with a firm handshake.

“How are you, sir? I am Manish Tewari, please support us. I am the joint candidate of the Congress and the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party),” the 58-year-old Congress leader tells a middle-aged man, who promptly responds, “I know you, I was your junior at St John’s (school).” After a brief conversation, Tewari moves on to the person sweeping the walkway. “My name is Manish Tewari, what is your name? Is everything alright at home? I am the joint candidate of the Congress-AAP alliance,” he says in Hindi.

As the Lok Sabha election campaign in Chandigarh, which votes in the last phase on June 1, gains pace, Tewari is not only going across the city addressing public meetings, he is also making his presence felt at popular spots such as Sukhna Lake, Tagore Theatre, and the Leisure Valley park area, a packet of chocolates and candies always at hand for children.

Tewari’s message, delivered in Hindi, Punjabi, or English depending on the crowd he addresses, is simple — “democracy is in danger … you have endured 10 years of misrule … now give us a chance”. At meeting after meeting, he underlines: “Hath ne jhadu fad liya hai, badlaav aayega (The hand is holding the broom, you will see a change now ).”

A lawyer by profession, Tewari rose through the Congress rank after starting his political career with the party’s students’ wing NSUI in the 1980s. The party gave him his first big chance in 2004 when he was fielded against the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) Sharanjit Singh Dhillon but he lost. Five years later, Tewari won Ludhiana, defeating Gurcharan Singh Galib of the SAD.