New equations take shape in Ambala City after Mayor joins BJP

Tribune News Service

Advertisement

Ambala, September 2

New politcal equations are taking shape in the Ambala City constituency after Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, wife of former Union Minister and Haryana Jan Chetna Party chief Venod Sharma, joined the BJP.

Minister of State and BJP MLA Aseem Goel represents the Ambala City seat at present.

While Shakti Rani has officially joined the BJP at the party’s rally in Jind, her son and Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma can be seen sharing stage with BJP leaders during rallies in the state. The Sharma couple and Aseem Goel have been critical of each other but in the previous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Venod Sharma had extended support to the BJP.

Sharma had won the Ambala City seat on the Congress ticket in the 2005 and 2009 Assembly elections. However, in 2014, Sharma contested the election under the banner of his own party (Haryana Jan Chetna Party) but lost to BJP’s Aseem Goel by a big margin. In the 2019 elections, he supported the BJP and Goel managed to retain the seat.

Sharma has raised the long-pending demand for the establishment of an IMT in Ambala. He has also strengthened his position in the Ambala City constituency by holding public meetings regularly and seeking public support for the election.

Shakti Rani had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Assembly election from the Kalka seat but won the Ambala Municipal Corporation elections by defeating the BJP candidate in 2020. There has been speculation that the BJP may field Shakti Rani from Ambala City or Kalka.

The Ambala Mayor, while speaking to The Tribune about joining the BJP and contesting election, said, “We are impressed with the working style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and transparency in the government. Now, since we have joined the party, we will perform whatever duties we are assigned.”

About Venod Sharma joining the BJP and the merger of the HJP with it, the Mayor said, “So far, only I have joined the party and the rest will become clear in a couple of days. We will follow the party’s directions.” The BJP nominated member in the Ambala Municipal Corporation, Sandeep Sachdeva, who is also eyeing the ticket from Ambala City, said “The induction of Shakti Rani Sharma will give a boost to the party. The party leadership will take the call on what role they will play in the Assembly elections in the Ambala and Kalka Assembly segments.”