Dissent in Congress: Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma says no to Lok Sabha poll from Kangra

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 6

As the Congress prepares for the Lok Sabha elections, voices of dissent have started emerging in the ruling party in politically sensitive Kangra district. The Congress is mulling over fielding a sitting MLA in the Lok Sabha poll and the names of Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma and Nagrota Bagwan MLA RS Bali are being proposed from the Kangra parliamentary constituency. However, Sharma has clearly stated his intention not to contest the parliamentary elections.

Sharma, while talking to The Tribune, said today that he had no intention of contesting the Lok Sabha poll. He added that those who were centres of power in the current government should contest the Lok Sabha poll. “When they have not considered me fit for being a Cabinet minister in the state, how can I be fit for contesting the Lok Sabha poll,” he said.

Sharma, who was a powerful minister during the Virbhadra Singh government from 2012 to 2017, has not been given a berth in the current Cabinet. He is also unhappy over stalled development projects in his Dharamsala Assembly constituency. He is unhappy with the state government for not giving Rs 30 crore for the transfer of forestland in the name of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) at Jadrangal in Dharamsala for the construction of a campus.

He said, “It is the state government that is responsible for not depositing Rs 30 crore for the construction of the north campus of the CUHP in the Dharamsala Assembly constituency. The Union Government has already given all clearances for the project.”

Sharma has been facing heat from the residents of Dharamsala, who have been holding protests over the campus issue. The BJP has made it an issue in Kangra with party national president JP Nadda slamming the state government for stalling Rs 250 crore investment in Kangra that the Central Government has allocated for the north campus of the CUHP.

With Sharma openly showing unwillingness to contest the Lok Sabha poll, the problems of the ruling party are likely to increase in the Kangra parliamentary constituency. During the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, BJP candidate and sitting MP Kishan Kapoor had won with a margin of 4.70 lakh votes. The winning margin was among the highest in the country. Congress candidate Pawan Kajal has now joined the BJP and is the MLA from Kangra. The Congress now has the option of fielding a new candidate from Kangra but will find it an uphill task to reverse the lead the party conceded in the last parliamentary poll.

Facing heat over CUHP project delay

• Sudhir Sharma has been facing heat from the residents of Dharamsala over the state government not depositing Rs 30 crore for the transfer of land to the CUHP for the campus
• He accuses the government of being responsible for not paying Rs 30 crore to the Forest Department for land for the campus
• The Dharamsala MLA says the Central Government has already given all clearances for the varsity campus project