Chandigarh a bone of contention between Tewari & Bansal

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Chandigarh a bone of contention between Tewari & Bansal

Monday, 08 October 2018 | Monika Malik | Chandigarh

Pawan Bansal and Manish Tewari have several things in common. Former Union Ministers, and parliamentarians, they have the ‘hand’ of the Congress behind their back, and a desire to “serve Chandigarh”. If that was no enough, both have done their law from Panjab University, Chandigarh. But the difference in their political ideology is as dissimilar as their age.

Young and energetic Tewari highlights broader issues concerning the City Beautiful, the mature and hardened-politician Bansal, on the other hand, believes in touching upon the local issues affecting the residents in their day-to-day existence.

Bansal, who entered 70s in July this year, has been the longest serving MP from Chandigarh before the BJP’s actor-cum-politician Kirron Kher broke his winning spree in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But, Bansal is “confident” of making a comeback, notwithstanding his earlier declaration of 2014 polls being his last.

“I am very confident, and I am preparing myself for it. And for four-and-half years, after my defeat in the last election, I confined myself to Chandigarh only...didn’t go to Delhi or loitering around in Delhi...I am at Chandigarh working day-in and day-out with the people. We have functions on everything, and we don’t miss out on anything,” says a ‘positive’ Bansal.

Bansal, who is well-versed with the local issues, people’s problems, city’s characteristics, its every minute detail or everything, admits that for all these years, he has been preparing himself thoroughly for it, “and I am confident of the victory also...But it is ultimately the high command to decide”.

In the same way, Tewari has also put the ball in party high command’s court saying that “these are the things which are decided by the party high command”. But his “desire” to contest 2019 parliamentary polls from Chandigarh is no more under wraps.

Comparatively younger 52-year-old Tewari, who had been in the race for Congress ticket from Chandigarh in 2014 too, has been active in the city from nearly past two years. But Tewari draws attention to his “long and deep association with the city beautiful”.

“I was born and brought up here...went for my schooling, attended my college (DAV College), and university. My parents’ job was here...and my father was assassinated in 1984 in Chandigarh,” he says while accentuating his bond with Chandigarh.

Besides physical and emotional connection, Tewari is undoubtedly not a fresher in the city politics. “I was AICC (All India Congress Committee) member from Chandigarh from 1991 to 2004 before I went to Ludhiana to fight Lok Sabha elections...Presently, I am the member of the Chandigarh Congress,” he says.

Despite the fact that the two served as the Union Ministers in the same Congress-led UPA Government, Bansal and Tewari don't see eye-to-eye. In fact, when the Congress re-nominated Bansal as its candidate in 2014, notwithstanding the controversy involving his nephew Vijay Singla — that not only cost him the cabinet berth, but questioned his integrity — Tewari had categorically stated that party should not field tainted politicians in an indirect attack on Bansal.

With 2019 parliamentary polls just a few months away, The Pioneer talks to the two frontrunners for the Congress ticket from Chandigarh regarding the ills that afflict the city and its residents, and its solutions:

MAKE CORPORATION MORE POWERFUL: TEWARI

Underlining that every problem in Chandigarh stems from the same reason, Tewari strikes at the root while backing for a “powerful corporation”.

“Everybody is trying to treat the symptoms rather than look into the disease. And the disease lies in the entire manner in which Chandigarh has unfortunately come to be structured and governed...Going back all the way to 1966...I don’t support the Commissionarate system, but a stronger Corporation,” says Tewari.

Pointing that there is a dire need to make clear the roles of UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation, Tewari adds that he supports that “Mayor be directly elected for the period of five years. Lot of powers, that vest in the Administration, must be transferred to the Corporation, and the Corporation must become a truly effective body”.

He points that the role of an MP is “to ensure that legislative structure, which governs the people or the Corporation or separation of powers between the Corporation and the Administration, should be more effectively tilted or give Corporation primacy in all issues, expect perhaps law and order”.

Tewari believes that Lok Sabha polls would not be fought on local issues, but on national or fundamental ones. “The fundamental issue for Chandigarh is how to make Corporation more efficacious, powerful...There has to be a relook at Corporation and Administration’s relationship...which means the fundamental revisit of the statute which governs the Corporation,” he submits.

Further, Tewari says that there is a need to ensure that the role of bureaucracy in civil affairs of Chandigarh is “minimised”. “Unfortunately, the Corporation Act is very heavily skewed in favour of the Administration. The Corporation is almost a recommendatory body,” he adds.

He reiterates that Mayor should be directly elected for the term of five-year so that he or she can really implement what they have promised to the people.

And for him, division of powers and roles between Administration and the Corporation would be the main local issue for elections. “If there is going to be one local issue which I think at the bottom of all the problems that you see with regard to garbage collection, or regularisation of housing board flats, or lease system...That is where they really stem from,” he says.

GARBAGE COLLECTION, ROAD CONGESTION MAIN PROBS: BANSAL

While Tewari believes in taking a holistic and overall view of the problems to come out with solutions that address the larger issues oncerning the smaller ones, city’s political old-hand Bansal talks of issues affecting the lives of the residents in their day-to-day existence in more mundane than abstract terms.

Four-time MP knows the city like the back of his hands, and the problems like dirt that tends to get into ones fingernails.

“There are currently two major problems affecting the city and its people that have aggregated in the past four-and half years. One is garbage collection, and another most important is increase in number of vehicles on city roads,” says Bansal while sweating details of its way outs.

On the issue of garbage collection, Bansal too points at the ongoing blame-game and blurred division of roles between the Administration and the Corporation. “The rules are promulgated by the Administration and formulated by the Municipal Corporation,” he adds while lashing out at the powers-that-be for adopting any model without taking into account the “local conditions”.

And when he is talking about its solutions, one can easily gauge that he is so much familiar with the topography of the city — knowing the building structures, knowing what section of people stays where, and the problem that go together with.

To deal with the stinking problem of garbage collection, Bansal stresses on encouraging waste segregation at households as wet and dry, setting up of safai kendras, opposes employing a concessionaire for the job, different deposit points for e-waste, giving the recyclable waste to the garbage collectors, among others.

For road congestion, Bansal believes that metro is the “only solution”. “Metro is not just for Chandigarh, and we need not be parochial or close-mind about it. We have to take in stock the present situation where large number of vehicles and nearly two lakh people from the adjoining areas are coming everyday to Chandigarh,” he points.

He maintains that it’s not only Chandigarh Administration that has to bear the cost, but the respective neighbouring states like Punjab, Haryana and even Himachal considering Baddi emerging as a part of tricity.

Bansal dismisses the latest suggestion for introducing monorail, which, according to him, would “spoil the city’s character” as it would mainly run over-ground, while metro would largely be underground in the city.

Among others, he lists upgradation of health problems, making government schools — if not better — than as good as private ones, menace of stray cattles and dogs, among many others.

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