Chandigarh:

The Chandigarh district election officer has issued notices to Congress party’s Chandigarh candidate Manish Tewari and the party’s state unit chief HS Lucky for the alleged violation of the Election Commission of India’s instructions.

According to an official statement, the DEO-cum-returning officer issued the notice to Mr Tewari and the state president of the Congress based on multiple complaints that “the Congress workers were engaged in the making and distribution of Congress Guarantee Cards in different areas like Maloya, Daria, Kishangarh, Manimajra, Bapu Dham Colony, EWS Flats Dhanas, whereby important details of voters were being collected by inducing them to vote in favour of Congress in lieu of promised guarantees in guarantee cards”.

Field reports which were obtained from flying squads in this regard by assistant returning officers reported that some of the residents had been made to fill such forms in which their details like name, address and phone number by the Congress party workers, it said.

“Following the examination of complaints and reports received, a prima-facie case of violation of ECI instructions was made out against the candidate and the political party at whose behest this illegal electoral activity is being done,” said the statement.

“The candidate and office-bearers of the Congress have been directed to immediately ensure that no such illegal electoral activity is done further,” it said.

It has been made clear that if any such illegal electoral activity is reported in the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency in future, immediate penal action will be initiated against the candidate and the office-bearers of the political party, it said.

“Show-cause notice has been issued to explain their position within 24 hours of the receipt of the notice, failing which they will be held liable for violation of the above-cited laws and of Model Code of Conduct and strict penal action as prescribed above in the law will be taken,” it said.

Referring to the ECI instructions issued on May 2, the statement said such practices are “in the nature of inducement to the elector, aimed at enticing the individual voters to vote in a particular way in lieu of a future benefit which is a prohibited activity under Section 123 (1) of Representation of People Act, 1951”.

This is also a violation of Section 171 (B) of the Indian Penal Code which deals with bribery an offence related to elections, it said.

Polling for the lone Chandigarh seat will be held in the last of Lok Sabha elections on June 1.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

With the campaigning for the Lok Sabha election gathering pace in Chandigarh, a war on X, formerly Twitter, has broken out between INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tewari and BJP’s Sanjay Tandon. While the BJP nominee Mr Tandon has been levelling allegations that Manish Tewari is an outsider, Mr Tewari has been busy trying to prove that his roots belong to Chandigarh.

Polling for the lone Chandigarh parliamentary constituency will take place on June 1.

Mr Tewari has dared Mr Tandon for debate on various issues so that the people can judge who would be better to represent them in Parliament.

“I challenge the BJP candidate @SanjayTandonBJP for a debate on local, national & international issues on any neutral non partisan platform. The People of Chandigarh have a right to judge the calibre of the person who would represent them in Parliament,” Mr Tewari, who is the sitting MP from Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, wrote in his post.

I challenge the BJP candidate @SanjayTandonBJP for a debate on local, national & international issues on any neutral non partisan platform.
The People of Chandigarh have a right to judge the calibre of the person who would represent them in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/V64ZFmN52n

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) April 30, 2024

Replying to his open debate challenge, Mr Tandon questioned Mr Tewari as to why he made a shift from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh to fight elections this time.

“Tewari ji, Please first explain to the voters the reason you have made a shift from Ludhiana to Anandpur Sahib in the last election and from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh in this election. Why did you run away from contesting in Anandpur Sahib or Ludhiana this time around? Please explain this before asking for an open debate,” the former city BJP president said.

Tewari ji,

Please first explain to the voters the reason you have made a shift from Ludhiana to Anandpur Sahib in the last election and from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh in this election? Why did you run away from contesting in Anandpur Sahib or Ludhiana this time around?… https://t.co/PMChxXHPlV

— Sanjay Tandon (Modi Ka Parivar) (@SanjayTandonBJP) April 30, 2024

Replying to Mr Tandon’s post, the former Union Minister, wrote, “Dear @SanjayTandonBJP ji a.k.a Anil Masih ji If you have the conviction of courage please accept my challenge for an open debate. Before asking me such inane questions please also recall that your respected father Late Balram Ji Tandon ji for whom I have the greatest personal respect also contested from Amritsar and Rajpura assembly constituencies. Let us get real please don’t run away let us debate the issues that face Chandigarh & the ideological issues that separate us . Let us not turn this election into a he said she said. Let it be a battle of ideas & narratives. We owe it to the city that we have a civilised contest. Come and debate with me. I promise to be very gentle and gentlemanly,” he posted.

Dear @SanjayTandonBJP ji a.k.a Anil Masih ji

If you have the conviction of courage please accept my challenge for an open debate.

Before asking me such inane questions please also recall that your respected father Late Balram Ji Tandon ji for whom I have the greatest personal… https://t.co/Rje0GTdOpR

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) April 30, 2024

“It has been 30 hours since I challenged to @SanjayTandonBJP to an open debate. Rather than picking up the gauntlet he is obfuscating &  dissimulating & finding excuses not to debate with me including doing some choreographed and fixed ‘Chai Pe Charcha’. A person who is scared of facing off with me what will he do in Parliament? Twiddle his thumbs I presume. People of Chandigarh- Think !,” he wrote in the thread on social media.

It has been 30 hours since I challenged to @SanjayTandonBJP to an open debate.

Rather than picking up the gauntlet he is obfuscating & dissimulating & finding excuses not to debate with me including doing some choreographed and fixed ‘Chai Pe Charcha’

A person who is scared… https://t.co/wrnkJAO9C1

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) May 1, 2024

Infighting has been noticed in Congress as former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal was not spotted with Manish Tewari during the campaign trail. On the other hand, BJP MP Kirron Kher is also not actively campaigning this season. Both the INDIA bloc and BJP have said they are trying to pacify all leaders to join the election campaign.