Dr.Avnish Jolly,Chandigarh,Jan 10 :Manish Tewari, National spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, today asserted that the Congress in Punjab was absolutely united and the rank and file was fully geared up to fight the parliamentary elections.
Tewari, who is spending quite a lot of time in Ludhiana for the last five years, speaking about the state of affairs of the party in the state said, the meeting of the coordination committee of the Punjab Congress held in New Delhi on January 5 underlined the need for unity within the ranks. He said all the senior leaders from the state were unanimous in their resolve that the party would fight the elections unitedly.
The AICC National spokesperson asserted that the Congress was quite in an enviable position in the state given the response the party meetings have been getting. Moreover, he remarked, the over all failure of the SAD-BJP government had disillusioned people and they were waiting for the first given opportunity to teach them a lesson.
To a question about Rahul Gandhi being the Prime Ministerial candidate, Tewari remarked, he is perfectly suited for the job. He pointed out, if Omar Abdullah can become the Chief Minister of an all important state like Jammu and Kashmir at the age of 38, if Rajiv Gandhi could become the Prime Minister at the age of 40, why can’t Rahul Gandhi become the Prime Minister at this age. However, he added, the Congress would fight the forthcoming elections under the leadership of the party president, Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
To another question about a news report in a vernacular daily that he was thinking of contesting from Karnal, Tewari remarked, "it is ridiculous… though it is the prerogative of the Congress president to nominate the candidates for elections, but I would like to contest from Ludhiana only which is my "Karam Bhumi" where I have been involved and working hard for last so many years".
Manish Tewari is currently on a whirlwind tour of the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency meeting cross section of the people. It goes to his credit that he has managed to take along everyone in the party