Pehalwan pulls out on Cong high command ‘advice’

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 21

The Congress rebel from Ludhiana-East Gurmel Pehalwan, who had filed his nomination papers as an Independent, today withdrew his nomination. He said he had withdrawn his candidature after being asked (to do so) by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Captain Amarinder Singh. “I got a call from Captain Amarinder Singh. Manish Tewari also advised me to withdraw my nomination. By withdrawing my nomination, I did what was desired by the party high command,” Pehalwan told The Tribune. On being asked whether he will support Sanjeev (Sanjay) Talwar, the Congress candidate from Ludhiana-East, he said he would support all Congress candidates in all constituencies of Ludhiana.

The allotment of the Congress ticket from the Ludhiana-East Assembly constituency was embroiled in controversy as former MP Manish Tewari was also a ticket aspirant from the constituency. Pehalwan, who had lost the 2012 Assembly polls from this constituency by around 4,500 votes, had announced that he would give up his claim to the party ticket if Tewari was fielded from this constituency. After Talwar was announced as the Congress candidate from Ludhiana-East, Pehalwan had declared that he would contest as Independent.

With Pehalwan’s withdrawal of nomination, the rebel factor in the Congress has more or less been contained in Ludhiana-East, said a party insider.

Meanwhile, the other two Congress rebels, Hemraj Aggarwal from Ludhiana-North and Avtar Billa from Jagraon, remain in the poll fray as Independent candidates. Hemraj, it is learnt, has got ‘truck’ as his election symbol. “There is no question of withdrawing the nomination. Aggarwal had taken the decision to contest as Independent after deliberating on it,” said his supporter.