Who Is KL Sharma, Congress' Non-Gandhi Pick In Amethi?
The Congress has broken its norms after two decades by fielding a candidate from outside the Gandhi family to contest in the prestigious Amethi Lok Sabha seat. The Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, once a bastion of Congress was lost to the saffron party in 2014.
The Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi on Friday. The scion of Gandhi’s family, Rahul Gandhi who has been contesting from Amethi since 2004 will now contest from Rae Bareli, yet another bastion of the Congress party.
Rahul Gandhi’s defeat in Amethi in the 2019 polls was a big blow to the grand old party. The recently announced Congress candidate of Amethi KL Sharma hails from Ludhiana, Punjab.
KL Sharma is a trusted aid of Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress president and he has served as her representative during her tenure as the member of Parliament from Rae Bareli. His association with the party goes back to 1983 when he began working with Rajiv Gandhi. He being a dedicated member of the party, has been overseeing the party’s activities in Amethi and Rae Bareli for a long period of time. He played a crucial role in maintaining the party’s presence and influence in both constituencies.
When Sonia vacated Amethi”s seat and moved to Rae Bareli, Sharma moved to the city with her. He has also worked with the party in Bihar and Punjab as well. This will be the first time in a century, the Amethi seat will not see a Gandhi family member in the electoral race. The last instance of a non-Gandhi family member being fielded from Amethi was in 1998. At the point in time, the Congress has chosen veteran leader Captain Satish Sharma for the seat.
Amethi’s connection with the Gandhi family can be traced back to 1977 when Sanjay Gandhi lost the election to Janata Party’s Ravindra Pratap Singh.
A political analyst accounting on the fielding of non-Gandhi in Amethi said, “You never know; Sharma can make the contest tough for Smrithi Irani. He knows Amethi like the back of his hand,” reports Hindustan Times.
