Campaign Trail Anand Sharma: After 4 decades, Anand slugs it out in Kangra
Lalit Mohan
Dharamsala, May 28
From background politics to contesting direct elections after about four decades seems to be a challenge for senior Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma. He is the Congress candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency.
Sharma had contested just one direct election in 1982 from the Shimla Assembly constituency, which he lost by a narrow margin of 200 votes to BJP candidate Daulat Ram Chauhan.
Sharma goes on a morning walk early around Clouds Villa, hotel of former Union Minister Chandresh Kumari in Dharamsala, where he stays while campaigning in Kangra district. He comes down from his private room at about 9.30 am into the hall of the hotel room where two or three of his close aides are already waiting for him. He discusses his day’s strategy with close aides and takes feedback on campaigning.
After that, it is time for breakfast and Sharma’s close aides join him. He takes a parantha, bread omelette and some fruit for breakfast with black tea. A hearty breakfast is good before starting a long day of campaigning, says Sharma with a smile on his face.
After having breakfast, Sharma answers the queries of the newsmen while roaming about in the garden of the hotel. He sometimes suddenly snaps at the TV crew saying that he can just give one interview a day and cannot repeat it again and again for them. However, he soon pacifies the startled TV channel crew members with a smile and tries to assuage their feelings by saying that he had said whatever he had to say and there was nothing more to say.
Sharma then waits for a call from Kewal Singh Pathania, Shahpur MLA, to leave for the day’s campaigning. His campaigning programme is planned by Congress MLAs or the party in-charge of the respective Assembly constituencies. As soon as a phone call from Pathania is received, Sharma immediately leaves for a public meeting in his Toyota Fortuner vehicle with a cavalcade of a few vehicles following him.
As soon Sharma’s car reaches the first public meeting venue, as per the tradition of Himachal, Congress workers and leaders offer him marigold garlands. Sharma is allergic to flowers but still accepts marigold flowers from the Congress workers and leaders.
He says, “I am asthmatic and have to take a strong anti-allergic medicine to accept the garlands of marigold flowers from the party workers and leaders.” He, however, quickly gets rid of the garlands as he reaches the stage to address the public rally.
Sharma tries to establish a connect with rural peopleof Kangra by speaking in their dialect. He lists the works he had done as a Union minister for Kangra and Himachal, including bringing the NIFT, Kangra, passport office in Shimla, industrial area of Kandrori and Pandoga areas of Una and Kangra and the Tea Board of India’s regional office at Palampur. He promises to bring more such projects to the area.
Sharma’s entire day goes in addressing public meetings and occasionally, he joins a ‘dham’ (traditional lunch) arranged by local leaders or Congress workers in their homes for him.
Sharma ends his election campaign around 7 pm to 8 pm. After returning, he visits the Congress war room and interacts with party leaders and workers and takes feedback regarding the campaigning before retiring for the day to his hotel room after a day’s hard work.
