Manish Tewari’s post fuels buzz over Congress future

Fresh speculation over Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari’s political future gathered pace on Thursday after the senior Congress leader expressed disappointment over his exclusion from the party’s newly constituted Punjab election committees, prompting discussions within political circles about his future in the organisation.

The buzz emerged after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced a new organisational structure for the Punjab Congress ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. While several senior leaders were assigned key responsibilities, Tewari was not included in either the Election Campaign Committee or the Manifesto Committee.

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Soon after the announcement, Tewari posted a strongly worded message on social media without naming any individual. He wrote that when “your competence becomes someone else’s insecurity, decisions cease to be organisational and instead become driven by personal prejudice.”

Recalling his political journey, Tewari said he began as an ordinary worker of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) in 1981 and had devoted nearly 45 years of his life to the Congress, serving the party in various capacities, including as Youth Congress president, Union minister and Member of Parliament. He suggested that the decision to leave him out of the party’s key election-related committees had come as a surprise.

Concluding his post with the line, “Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be,” Tewari’s remarks triggered speculation in political circles about whether he could reconsider his future in the Congress. However, the senior leader has not publicly announced any decision to leave the party, and there has been no official confirmation from either Tewari or the Congress regarding such speculation.

Political observers said the development has once again highlighted internal differences within the Punjab Congress following the organisational reshuffle. Some analysts believe Tewari’s exclusion may reflect competing political interests within the state unit, particularly given his influence in Chandigarh, Anandpur Sahib and the surrounding Tricity region. These assessments, however, remain political opinion and have not been officially acknowledged by the party.

The issue has also sparked resentment among some of Tewari’s supporters, while rival parties, including the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have sought to portray the Congress as a party grappling with internal factionalism ahead of the Assembly elections.

This is not the first time Tewari has voiced concerns over the Congress’ organisational decisions in Punjab. Earlier, amid discussions over changes in the state leadership, he had said that the party high command had neither sought his views nor consulted him regarding the restructuring process. He had also argued that major organisational changes should ideally be carried out at least two years before an election to provide the new leadership adequate time to work at the grassroots level, warning that last-minute changes often create uncertainty.

On July 1, the Congress retained Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and continued with Partap Singh Bajwa as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was appointed chairman of the Election Campaign Committee, while MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was named chairman of the Core Committee. Former minister Vijay Inder Singla was given charge of the Election Management and Coordination Committee, and MP Amar Singh was appointed chairman of the Manifesto Committee. The party also named Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Raj Kumar Verka and Sangat Singh Gilzian as working presidents, besides appointing several senior leaders as co-chairpersons of various election committees.