Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): The Congress on Friday announced the candidature of Kishori Lal Sharma from the Amethi seat for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. Kishori Lal Sharma filed his nomination papers from Amethi with much fanfare.
Sharma is long known as a Gandhi family's loyalist and hails from Ludhiana in Punjab. He has been associated with the grand old party for over several decades. It was in 1987 that Sharma came to Amethi and since then he has been working for the party in the Gandhi family's traditional constituency in Uttar Pradesh. KL Sharma is now taking up the challenge to take on Smriti Irani on the behalf of the Congress, now headed by Mallikarjun Kharge.
Kishori Lal Sharma has replaced Rahul Gandhi, who has shifted to Rae Bareli, another bastion of the Gandhi family. It is understood that Sharma was a close associate of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his bond with the Gandhi family grew stronger after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991.
Sharma was instrumental in securing a win for former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, when she contested the elections for the first time from Amethi. Sharma also managed the affairs of the grand old party in both Amethi and Rae Bareli. He also played a key role in ensuring that Rahul Gandhi was elected from Amethi for three successive times.
Rahul was first elected from Amethi Lok Sabha seat in 2004 and then in 2009 and 2014. But in 2019, the Gandhi scion had a shock defeat in Amethi in the hands of Smriti Irani. However, the voters of Wayanad in Kerala came to the rescue of Rahul Gandhi by giving him a victory thereby getting him entry into the Lok Sabha in 2019. This time, Rahul is contesting from Rae Bareli and Wayanad while his sister Priyanka Gandhi has not entered the fray proving speculation surrounding her electoral entry wrong.
K L Sharma has emerged as a surprise choice of the Congress in Amethi. The Congress high command rewarded him for his loyalty and pitted him against Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani. Sharma thanked the Congress leadership for showing faith in him.
