Not so long ago, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Manish Tewari were colleagues. Destiny saw Priyanka Chaturvedi, a brilliant young leader quitting the party in a huff. She joined the ShivSena in Maharashtra and also got nominated as a Rajyasabha MP.
Manish Tewari, a young Congress leader who had Sonia Gandhi’s blessings to become the information and broadcasting minister during the UPA is still with the Party but is a vocal part of a G23 syndicate that is demanding an overhaul of the Congress organisation.
The G 23 are one time Gandhi loyalists now turned dissidents of India’s Grand Old Party, the Congress. Many of them were blamed by Rahul Gandhi in the post-2019 Lok Sabha election defeat. The group in 2020 got together to demand an overhaul of the Congress organisation with a forceful demand for the election to the party president’s post, and a visible 24×7 leadership.
Though Priyanka quit Congress, she has always maintained grace. Today Manish and Priyanka indulged in a Twitter spat. Worse was that it was on rape accused Tarun Tejpal and his prowess, writing in this case. Tewari went on to glorify his good old friend Tejpal and his new book calling to which Priyanka objected.
Obviously. Priyanka tweeted, “Today I got to know that Tarun Tejpal was ‘honorably exonerated’ and ‘politically persecuted’. To rubbish a woman’s sexual assault by this cosy club, smacks of their sick mindset. They believe they can behave as they wish around women and laugh off the serious crime. Shameful.”
Tewari, in the span of seven minutes after Chaturvedi’s tweet, wrote on his Twitter wall, “Unlike you @priyankac19 as a lawyer I know how to read a judgment and respect it. Tarun Tejpal was tried and found innocent. That is the cold hard fact. Goa Government has gone to High Court. If you have a problem say what you have too in the High Court of Mumbai & Goa.”
Not a woman to cave into male egos or self proclaimed intelligentsia, Priyanka retorted with a strong reply, “Unlike you @manistewari just being a lawyer and ability to read a judgement does not put you on a higher plain. Also, this is a free platform I have a right to opinion as much as you have a right to pat the back of an alleged rapist.”
Having noticed an error in her tweet, she quickly posted another tweet, “Oops! Typo *plane. Hope it doesn’t attract a libel/defamation threat”
A brief background about Chaturvedi
Priyanka Chaturvedi started out by serving first as General Secretary of the Youth Congress from North-West Mumbai and was later elevated to the post of AICC Spokesperson. Chaturvedi’s face, tone, and tenor were synonymous with the Congress. She quit the INC on April 19, 2019, to join the Shiv Sena after nearly a decade in Congress. What followed then was a rue of opinions trending the internet for her change in ideologies.
A brief background of Manish Tewari
Tewari is a lawyer by profession and practised out of the supreme court. He is an elected MP of the Ludhiana constituency. He also served as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Information and Broadcasting from 2009-2014. Even during his college days, he was actively involved in politics. He started his political career with NSUI and later became a member of Congress Party’s national committee. He was elected to Lok Sabha the first time in 2009 after defeating Gurcharan Singh of AkaliDal. He was Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in UPA government. Owing to his bad health, he did not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but in 2019 Congress did field him from Anandpur Sahib.
