BJP minister’s son at Congress door for ticket from Mandi

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 19

With no assurance from the BJP of being given the Mandi Lok Sabha ticket, Ashray Sharma has met senior Congress leaders in Delhi to seek re-entry into the party and be fielded for the parliamentary poll.

Ashray has been staking claim for the Mandi Lok Sabha ticket from the BJP, represented by his grandfather, former Telecommunication Minister Sukh Ram, on several occasions.

With chances of the BJP fielding him being bleak, he is learnt to be in touch with the central Congress leadership.

Incidentally, Ashray’s father Anil Sharma is the Minister for Power in the BJP government in the state. Anil had joined the BJP just before the 2017 Assembly poll, primarily due to bitter relations Virbhadra and his father shared. He too was sidelined during the Virbhadra regime, pushing him to join the BJP. If the Congress agrees to field Ashray, Anil will have to resign as a minister and also as an MLA as he had won on the BJP ticket.

Even as there is talk of Ashray meeting Congress leaders, Virbhadra, who has won the Mandi seat, is vehemently opposed to his candidature. The frontrunners for the Congress ticket from Mandi include Virbhadra Singh, his son Vikramaditya Singh and former minister Kaul Singh Thakur.

It is reliably learnt that though the Congress is not averse to Ashray’s candidature, the biggest hurdle is Virbhadra Singh. He had won from Mandi and his wife Pratibha Singh also won two parliamentary poll from this seat.

On the other hand, Ashray too is staking claim on the Mandi seat, terming it his family’s traditional seat. He has even started his campaign and visited most parts of Mandi district and even Kinnaur which is part of the Lok Sabha segment. Ashray’s younger brother is married to Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s sister Arpita Khan and the star could also play a role in getting the ticket to Ashray.

As the tug of war for the ticket continues, it could take some more days before both BJP and Congress finalise the names.

Political implications

• Ashray Sharma (pic) is staking claim for the Mandi Lok Sabha ticket from the BJP, represented by his grandfather, former Telecommunication Minister Sukh Ram.
• Ashray’s father Anil Sharma is the Minister for Power in the BJP government in the state.
• Anil had joined the BJP just before the 2017 Assembly poll, primarily due to bitter relations Virbhadra and his father shared. 
• He too was sidelined during the Virbhadra regime, pushing him to join the BJP. 
• If the Congress agrees to field Ashray, Anil will have to resign as a minister and also as an MLA.