In Kartikeya Sharma's victory, BJP finds antidote to Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, June 12

The bonhomie between the BJP and former Union Minister Venod Sharma is growing again. Close on the heels of the win of Sharma’s son Kartikeya Sharma in the recently-held Rajya Sabha elections with the BJP support, the former Union minister seems to be again cosying up to the saffron party.

BJP sources admitted that mutual admiration between Khattar and Venod Sharma has been growing in the recent past. “In fact, after Khattar “masterminded” Kartikeya’s win, relationship between the two has been put on a new pedestal which can change political partnership,” a senior BJP functionary indicated.

Venod Sharma heads a regional political outfit Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP) and his wife Shakti Rani Sharma is currently Mayor of the Ambala Municipal Corporation.

Venod Sharma’s dalliance with the BJP goes back to 2014 when he had quit the Congress. In the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections, late BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj had opposed Venod Sharma’s entry into Kuldip Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) anchored by the BJP due to the jailing of his son Siddharth Vashishth, alias Manu Sharma, in the Jessica Lal murder case. It was widely believed that the BJP wanted to leave the Karnal Lok Sabha seat for its ally HJC in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Search for ‘credible’ brahmin face

The BJP is also on the lookout for a ‘credible’ Brahmin face in the wake of Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma’s tirade against CM Manohar Lal Khattar. In Venod Sharma, who commands a sizable influence among non-Jats, especially Brahmins, the BJP may find a perfect antidote to Arvind Sharma, whose public utterances against the CM had put the party to a lot of embarrassment

Entry after concrete proposal

It is true that BJP played a pivotal role in Kartikeya’s victory. However, any decision on Venod Sharma’s entry into BJP would be taken whenever there is any concrete proposal. — OP Dhankar, BJP state president