Shouldn’t have lost Chandigarh seat: Sitharaman to BJP cadres

Taking a dig at the Congress while addressing the state executive meeting of the Chandigarh BJP at party’s office, Sitharaman said the Congress could not win even 100 seats in the third consecutive Lok Sabha elections, facing its third worst defeat

hillary.victor@htlive.com

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the state executive meeting of the Chandigarh BJP on Sunday. (HT Photo)

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s local unit over losing the Chandigarh seat in the Lok Sabha elections.

“Please forgive me if anyone feels bad, but it was BJP’s seat, and we could not have afforded to lose it,” said Sitharaman while addressing the state executive meeting of the Chandigarh BJP at party’s office in Sector 33.

BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon had lost the election to Congress’s Manish Tewari by a narrow margin of 2,504 votes in the results declared on June 4.

Sitharaman said, “I was deeply concerned about the Chandigarh seat and during my visit to Ludhiana during the elections, I even took feedback about the Chandigarh seat. Next time, whenever you need me, I will come, but we must win the seat next time.”

Stating that she did her best during her 10-year tenure in the city, former MP Kirron Kher turned to Tandon, “Sanjay ji, three months before the elections, you came to me and I said due to my health reasons, I am not contesting the elections. That time, I shared a couplet with you, ‘Ham laaye hain toofaan se kashti nikaal ke. Iss desh ko rakhana mere bachchon sambhaal ke’.”

Taking a dig at the Congress, Sitharaman said the Congress could not win even 100 seats in the third consecutive Lok Sabha elections, facing its third worst defeat.

“But they are celebrating as if they have won. In the last 10 Lok Sabha elections from 1984 to 2024, the Congress could not cross even the 250-seat mark. But they have this artificial confidence,” she said.

Earlier, Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra listed achievements of the PM Narendra Modi-led government. He said not only in India, the country was doing great globally also. Tandon added the party was going to achieve more heights in the third term.

Former BJP president Arun Sood was also present in the meeting.

Sitharaman also held a separate meeting with traders and industrialists at the party office.

The traders listed out their issues related to GST, adoption of MSME Act in Chandigarh, subsidy and one-time VAT settlement. They gave a representation to the minister, who assured to look into their issues.