Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Anand Bodh | TNN

'Congress a private limited firm': Party's Himachal Pradesh gen secy Aashray Sharma — grandson of former Union minister Sukh Ram — quits; may join BJP

SHIMLA: In yet another jolt to the Congress party ahead of assembly election, Himachal Pradesh general secretary Aashray Sharma, grandson of former Union minister Sukh Ram, quit the party on Friday.

While targeting the state party president Pratibha Singh and her MLA son Vikramaditya Singh, Sharma said that instead of being a national party, the Congress has now become a private limited firm.

He wondered why the high command was not able to see beyond the “Raj Parivar” (royal family) in Himachal Pradesh — "despite having so many talented people".

Animosity between former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh and late Sukh Ram was an open secret and following their demise, family rivalry had shifted between Aashray Sharma and Vikramaditya Singh.

On September 11, Sharma had resigned as the member of Yuva Rozgar Sangarsh Yatra after expressing his anguish over the interference of Vikramaditya Singh.

While addressing media persons at Mandi, Sharma on Friday said that in the 2019 parliamentary election he had contested from the Mandi parliamentary seat after senior leaders, including Kaul Singh Thakur and Pratibha Singh, had refused to contest.

He said that in the election campaign, Virbhadra Singh kept on saying from the public platforms that he would not forgive Sukh Ram and “Samajhdar ko ishara kaafi hai” (gesture is enough for the sensible).

Sharma said that to prove his point he has video recordings of the same.

Hitting out at Pratibha Singh, he said that in a recent interview she said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are not serious and lack maturity.

He said that late Virbhadra Singh headed Congress party for a long time and now Pratibha Singh, who is also an MP, is heading the party while her MLA son Vikramaditya Singh is the state general secretary and incharge of various departments.

He said that Congress is promising to give OPS on coming to power but the truth is that no state government is capable of providing OPS with the help of the central government.

He said that the OPS could be implemented only if the same party has the governments in the state and at the Centre.

He said that the state is under huge debt burden while Congress is promising to give Rs 1,500 per month to women from 18 to 60 years of age.

He also questioned the promise of buying cow dung from farmers at the rate of Rs 2 per kg.

He said that considering the topography of the state, fuel cost would be much more.

Aashray Sharma said that chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had provided the helicopter for the treatment of Sukh Ram while the top Congress leaders of Himachal did not have time to see his ailing grandfather.

“I will always be indebted to Jai Ram Thakur,” he said, adding that unprecedented development has taken place during the tenure of Thakur.

After his resignation, it is speculated that he would soon join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as his father Anil Sharma is a BJP MLA from Mandi (Sadar).

Anil Sharma, after winning the 2017 assembly election, had become a minister in the Thakur-led government but was later dropped from the cabinet after Aashray Sharma joined the Congress party right before the 2019 parliamentary election to unsuccessfully contest from the Mandi parliamentary seat on Congress ticket.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.