Tewari, Kher in war of words over multiple official houses

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 25

Former Union Minister Manish Tewari and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher engaged in a war of words on Monday after the former dared the BJP leader to relinquish her government house in the constituency “she is not entitled to” and described her a “migratory bird”.

Responding to The Tribune story on MPs from the region (Chandigarh’s Kirron Kher and Ludhiana’s Ravneet Bittu) occupying two government accommodations – one in Delhi and the other in their parliamentary segments – through a series of tweets on Monday, Tewari said the MPs and MLAs must set an example by relinquishing public properties to which they were disentitled. He took a swipe at Kirron who, on Sunday, told The Tribune that she had sought a government house because no one in the city would rent her one.

“It is indeed a sad state of affairs that MP from Chandigarh claims that no one was/is prepared to give her a house in her own constituency. Either there is a serious trust deficit between her and her constituents or it is an excuse,” Tewari said. He also attacked Kirron for her comments regarding the house and said: “If an MP cannot find a place to rent in his or her constituency this underscores two things. A) The eminence in question is a migratory bird and perhaps does not belong there. B) Perhaps the time has come to pack up your bags and go where you belong.”

Kirron shot back at Tewari asking him to “use other ways of staying relevant to the city from where he had hoped to contest elections”.

“There are better ways to make yourself relevant in Chandigarh, Mr Tewari. Everyone knows you have always fancied an LS ticket from the city. Is this how you plan to get a foot in the door?” Kirron tweeted to Tewari, a former Ludhiana MP.

Kirron told TNS: “There were security issues when I was staying at the UT Guest House. The then UT Administrator Shivraj Patil gave me a house in a secure area. Ravneet Bittu’s grandfather was also assassinated and he too has security issues.”

Tewari, meanwhile, hinted that anyone interested in knowing his future political moves should watch Twitter carefully. He was responding to one Amit Sharma (@iTrueToo), a supporter of Kher, who “advised him to forget about Chandigarh and concentrate on Ludhiana instead”.