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Journalism of Courage
With counting day on June 4, the two main candidates contesting from Chandigarh parliamentary constituency, Manish Tewari and Sanjay Tandon, look back (on Election 2024 ) and ahead — at life beyond the results.
INDIA Bloc candidate Manish Tewari spent around 52 days of campaigning in the heat. From padyatras to meetings, he connected with every voter on the ground. Now that the voting is complete, he speaks of how this Sunday was different.
“I am not stressed that I have to de-stress…,” he says.
When asked how he spent his day after long days of a hectic schedule of campaigning, Tewari said, “Just that today I went for a walk, did workout, wrote two-three columns and spent time with family.”
During campaigning, the 58-year-old Congress leader was often heard asking people, “How are you, sir? I am Manish Tewari, please support us. I am the joint candidate of the Congress and the AAP.”
Tewari did not only go across the city addressing public meetings, he also made 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.
His message, delivered in Hindi, Punjabi, or English depending on the crowd he addressed, was simple — “democracy is in danger … you have endured 10 years of misrule … now give us a chance”. At meeting after meeting, he underlined: “Hath ne jhadu fad liya hai, badlaav aayega (The hand is holding the broom, you will see a change now).”
On the high and low points of his campaigning here, the Congress candidate said, “There are moments when you have to deal with problems and there are moments when problems resolve themselves. This is my fourth campaign… and you take it in your stride.”
On what he will do in the event of victory or defeat, he said, “Well, all I can say is you can give your best. And people have spoken. The rest, I will continue to serve people.”
Tewari also met his colleagues and friends at his house in Chandigarh on Sunday.
A lawyer by profession, Tewari rose through the Congress ranks 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. He became one of the party’s chief spokespersons and served as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Congress-led UPA II government from 2012 to 2014.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Tewari could not contest because he had fallen ill and was admitted due to heart ailment.
Five years later in 2019, he was fielded from Anandpur Sahib by the Congress and he won the parliamentary election.
For BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon, it was a day of “denting painting” after almost 52 days of the longest-ever campaigning.
“Ab gaadi itni chali hai, to denting painting to karvana padega na (The vehicle requires service after so much mileage). So today was a day for my denting painting, I would say,” BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon told The Indian Express in a candid conversation.
Tandon said that after campaigning and voting, he went to various doctors and physiotherapists on Sunday, considering the damage caused by excessive walking in scorching heat — which is how he destressed himself post-campaigning.
“Because I walked between 25 and 30 kilometres every day from May 14 onwards, I had blisters, corns on my feet. I had cramps, muscles pulled, had sunburns on forehead and my throat almost jammed. So, I met the physiotherapist, then the dermatologist and now I am going to the ENT specialist too. So, it’s that denting painting of the vehicle which ran every day so much,” he said, adding that all family members who were busy with elections finally spent some time together Sunday.
The BJP leader spoke about how they changed their campaign strategy. “We changed our campaign strategy from meetings to padyatras..post-May 10, the day I filed the nomination papers. So I walked about 25-30 kilometres every day to connect with everyone in the city and on the last day I spent about eight hours just in the vehicle. So the heatwave struck me at that time and the burns happened,” he said.
On what he will do if he wins, Tandon said, “First of all, I will accept it with all humility and then thank everyone who has worked hard for me. I believe that it is at that moment when you feel a sense of responsibility on your shoulders that I have to live up to their expectations. And then I will pray to God to have given me this opportunity.”
And in case, if he faces defeat, Tandon said, “Then I would do introspection. Any kind of failure gives you a chance to look for your mistakes and then work towards improvement. It’s more of a stepping stone to a new horizon. And I will continue to keep serving people as that’s the onus I have taken for the last over 20 years.”
About his campaigning experience, the BJP candidate said, “It was extremely enriching as wherever I went, people were very loving, caring and I saw that they were already doing much more than what I could have imagined,” he added.
About the high point of his campaigning, Tandon said, “The highest point was that whenever I connected with somebody, he replied ‘why did you have to come as I am already working for you’. I felt all my work of 20 years is paying off now. And it’s the hidden hand of God as people from all over the world were calling their Chandigarh acquaintances and they were not even telling me that they were working for me. That’s the high point. I never called my friends in London but they were calling their Chandigarh acquaintances to support me. It touched my heart,” he added.
About the low point of campaigning, Tandon said, “Sometimes, when you have done so much for somebody, and he shows annoyance on trivial matters or he doesn’t support you, it does hit you.”
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