Dhawan adds own factor to Kher victory, Jain says ‘MP here like PM and local leaders like ministers’

Former MP Harmohan Dhawan asserts that he fulfilled the responsibility that he was given by making Kher victorious.

“In the last election that I contested from BSP, I had polled 61,000 votes. Of this, 50,000 was my personal votebank. This got transferred to Kirron this time. If I had supported Gul Panag, she would have won the election. It is Modi and Dhawan factors combined that led to the victory of the BJP in Chandigarh,” he says.

Dhawan adds that he had asked his supporters that it was he who was contesting the election and they should vote for him. He says, “I had made promises to the people to get their problems solved. I will stay among the people and get their work done.”

Dhawan has contested seven Lok Sabha elections since 1984 and each time from a different party. This time, he had hoped for a BJP ticket, but the party chose Kher.

Senior BJP leader Satya Pal Jain maintains that the local team would have to run the show here. “Chandigarh is a Union Territory, so it is run by the MHA.

The MP should not involve herself in the local affairs, like work of various committees and organisations. There are elections at PU or the Municipal Corporation. The MP here is like the prime minister and the local leaders like the Cabinet ministers who help in managing the affairs,” he says.

It was Jain who was seen extending support to Kher when she arrived in the city. He was also the election agent for Kher. There is speculation that he may be made a Rajya Sabha MP. He is already the chairman of the BJP’s National Committee for Legal Affairs and Election Commission Issues.