Lok Sabha Polls 2024: On Manish Tewari's Debate Challenge, BJP Nominee Questions His Shifting Stance

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.