Won't allow Chandigarh to become a city-state, says Simranjit Singh Mann

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 25 (ANI): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Simranjit Singh Mann launched a scathing attack against Congress candidate from Chandigarh Manish Tewari saying that he would not allow Chandigarh to become a city-state as was mentioned in Tewari's poll manifesto.
While announcing this, Mann warned his supporters that preparations have been made to snatch Chandigarh from Punjab forever. He said that Tewari has made a statement that Chandigarh will be made a city-state.
Mann said that according to Tewari, there will be a separate Legislative Assembly of Chandigarh.
He said, "My party will not allow such plans to succeed. If this happens, then it will prove to be dangerous for Punjab. My party will keep on working for the merger of Chandigarh in Punjab."
Notably, Tewari's manifesto read, "It is time for Chandigarh to become a city-state. The three existing, antiquated models of governance of the city, which are plagued by the multiplicity of the authority and complicated web of laws, will be consolidated into simplified and people-friendly laws supported by the legal architecture to address the whole range of issues concerning the city."
Earlier in the month, in a major setback to Shiromani Akali Dal, the party's candidate from Chandigarh, Hardeep Singh resigned from the party.
Expressing disappointment, he remarked that the party's callous attitude towards him, Chandigarh and his unit left him with no option other than leaving the party.
He added that he was promised that the party would handle the poll campaign but the candidates were announced 15-18 days ago and no party leader came to speak to them.
In Punjab, voting for its 13 seats will take place in a single phase, with the seventh and final phase on June 1 seeing voting in Gurudaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala constituencies.
Notably, the Congress that is going solo in the general elections has fielded Gurjeet Singh Aujla from the Amritsar seat, Amar Singh from Fathgarh Sahib, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu from Bhatinda, Sukhpal Singh Khaira from Sangrur, and Dharamvir Gandhi from Patiala. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the INC-led UPA alliance won eight seats, while the NDA secured four. (ANI)