Former Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Lok Sabha member from Punjab Manish Tewari are notable absentees from the Congress party’s list of star campaigners for the upcoming Assembly polls in the border State.
The list of 30 star campaigners, released on Friday, included Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Navjot Singh Sidhu apart from former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The exclusion of Mr. Azad is significant as his name figured in the list of star campaigners for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly that was released a day before the former LoP was conferred the Padma Bhushan by the Narendra Modi government.
Mr. Tewari's case is even more surprising as he is not only a sitting Lok Sabha member from Punjab but is actively campaigning in the State. Nearly 40% of the electorate in Punjab are from the Hindu community and Mr. Tewari is a prominent leader from the community.
However, both are also part of Congress' group of 23 (G-23) leaders who had written to Ms. Gandhi in August 2020 calling for internal reforms in the party.
The Congress' list, however, includes others G-23 leaders like Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in addition to another senior leaders like Ashok Gehlot [Rajasthan Chief Minister], Bhupesh Baghel [Chhattisgarh Chief Minister], Sachin Pilot, Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala among others.
