Congress Drops Controversial Sunil Sharma's Ticket; Announces New Candidate For Jaipur (Photo on X Sunil Sharma @I_SunilSharma)Congress yesterday (March 24) dropped Sunil Sharma, the candidate the party nominated for Rajasthan’s Jaipur Lok Sabha constituency. The decision was taken following an uproar over the ticket given to Mr Sharma noting his association with ‘Jaipur Dialogue,’ a right-wing organisation that was at the forefront of criticising the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and, the campaigns the group’s social media handles undertook for BJP. The Congress has however fielded former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas in his place. Mr Pratap Singh is also the Congress president of Jaipur district.
Sunil Sharma was the director of the right-wing platform. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor shared one of the videos from the account of the ‘Jaipur Dialogue’ platform that allegedly ridiculed Rahul Gandhi and Mr Tharoor. Sunil Sharma has also been featured in several videos posted by the group. There have also been alleged anti-muslim post from the platform. Fact-checker and Alt news co-founder Mohammed Zubair shared several posts on the platform which reportedly justified Nathuram Vinayak Godse for killing Mahatma Gandhi. Further, the platform was purportedly anti-opposition and pro-BJP.
After the announcement of Mr Sharma’s ticket, the Thiruvananthapuram MP took to his social media platform X and wrote, “He must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar! This is just one of several dozen tweets from his handle attacking me.”
He must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar! This is just one of several dozen tweets from his handle attacking me:https://t.co/mJy9ZyBWG0 https://t.co/3DjWW8dtbq
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 23, 2024
However, Mr Sharma had dismissed the allegations saying that he had no association with JD Digital Private Limited which was behind The Jaipur Dialogues’ social media platforms that posted derogatory videos on Congress leaders.
He also said that the organisation is a charity platform, adding that he had left the team last year.
“I have never had anything to do with the management of the Jaipur Dialogue YouTube channel,” he had said in a statement. “I am often invited on all news channels and YouTube channels as a panelist on building an inclusive India as per the Congress philosophy.” Indian Express reported quoting Mr Sharma.
Mr Sharma’s name was outed as the grand old party announced its third list of candidates for the imminent Lok Sabha elections, stirring massive backlash against his nomination and forcing the party to repeal his ticket.