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Smriti Irani trailing to K L Sharma of Congress… when the news update flashed on the television screens, it took everyone by surprise. By evening, as it became clear that the Union Minister has lost her Amethi seat to Sharma, it was unbelievable!
Kishori Lal Sharma, an old confidante of the Congress party emerged as the dark horse of 2024 election when he surprised everyone of his victory. Hailing from Punjab’s Ludhiana, Sharma is believed to be close to the Gandhi family and has been the manager for the Congress party and Sonia Gandhi in her absence at Rae Bareli. Sharma, who won the seat by over 1 lakh votes margin, said, “This is the victory of the Gandhi family and the people of Amethi.” After Sonia Gandhi vacated her seat for son Rahul Gandhi in 2004 and moved to Raebareli, Sharma started to manage the party’s affairs in both the constituencies in Uttar Pradesh — Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Irani lost the Amethi elections in 2014 but defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019. It is worth noting that Sharma’s name was not the first choice and was announced only after hectic parleys among senior Congress leaders. When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opted to contest from Raebareli instead of Amethi, the decision reverberated in the political landscape. Irani was quick to seize the opportunity, declared that history had been made.
Sharma’s significance within the Congress party came under the spotlight when Priyanka Gandhi led his roadshow, accompanied by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. “Our family has a long-standing relationship with Kishori Lal Sharma-ji. He has always been engaged wholeheartedly in serving the people of Amethi and Raebareli. His passion for public service is an example in itself,” Priyanka Gandhi remarked. On his long association with the Congress party, Sharma said, “I have served the region for 40 years and know Amethi very well. I came here in 1983 as a Youth Congress representative to work for Rajiv ji and have remained here since then. Except 1981, I managed all of Rajiv ji’s remaining elections.”
Surely, Irani and the BJP needs to analyse the reasons for such a humiliating defeat at the hands of a normal party worker, leave alone Rahul Gandhi. Was it the over-confidence of Irani or the Gandhi charisma which worked to their disadvantage and advantage respectively, only time will tell in days to come.
