Not A Paratrooper, Have Worked In Amethi For 40 Years, Will Defeat BJP’s Smriti Irani: KL Sharma To News18

KL Sharma during his roadshow in Amethi on Friday. (PTI)

Kishori Lal Sharma, Congress’s candidate from Amethi who is set to take on Bharatiya Janata Party’s Smriti Irani in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in an exclusive interview to News18, said that he was not a “paratrooper”, but a leader who has spent more than 40 years in the constituency.

“I am no paratrooper. I have given the most productive years of my life to Amethi and have worked here for over 40 years. I have worked with the people here closely. They know me well and have faith in me… People are looking forward to rectify their 2019 Lok Sabha poll mistake and will bring the Congress to power,” Sharma, who became the first non-Gandhi to be fielded by the party from the seat in 25 years, said.

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In 2019 Lok Sabha Polls, Congress’s candidate from Amethi Rahul Gandhi lost to Union Minister Irani. On Friday, the last day of filing nomination, the Congress announced the candidature of Sharma, moving Gandhi to another Congress stronghold of Raebareli. “I am sure that I will defeat Smriti Irani,” he added.

“Our family has had a long association with Kishori Lal Sharma ji. He has always been dedicated to serving the people of Amethi and Raebareli. His passion for public service is an example in itself. Today it is a matter of joy that the Congress party has made Shri Kishori Lal ji a candidate from Amethi. Kishori Lal ji’s loyalty and dedication towards duty will definitely bring him success in this election. Best wishes,” posted Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on X.

The Gandhi family’s close aide also slammed BJP’s Raebareli candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh’s “peon remark”, saying it reflects his upbringing. “I am a politician and not a Congress servant. Such remarks reflect the upbringing and mental level of the person. I have a long association with Gandhi family and I respect it wholeheartedly,” Sharma said.

ON PM MODI’S ‘DARO MAT, BHAGO MAT’ REMARK

While addressing a rally in Bengal recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Rahul Gandhi had ‘fled’ Amethi fearing defeat. “Today, I also want to tell him, daro mat (don’t be afraid), bhago mat (don’t run),” Modi had said, mocking Gandhi’s switch to Raebareli from Amethi.

Responding to it, Sharma said, “Those who say that Gandhi ran away might not be aware of the history of the Gandhi-Nehru family and their selfless contribution to the nation. Rahul Gandhi perhaps is the only one who has covered the length and breadth of the country, fighting to save the Constitution.”

Sharma also took a dig at the BJP for making false promises. “People of Amethi are still waiting for ‘Rs 13/kg wali sugar’, which the party promised in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.”

SHARMA’S RISE IN CONGRESS

The Congress’s last-minute decision to field Sharma from Amethi not only came as a shocker to the opposition and political analysts, but also to Sharma, who said he never imagined that he would get to contest the elections. “The party’s decision took me by surprise. I am thankful to Sonia ji, Rahul ji, Priyanka ji and Mallikarjun Kharge ji for considering my candidature for the Lok Sabha Polls,” said Sharma, who has been associated with the Grand Old Party since he was 22.

Reminiscing on his long-term association with the Congress, he said, “I have been associated with the Gandhi-Nehru family since 1982. After I graduated from Arya College, Ludhiana, I joined a Youth Congress Camp in my district. Back then, Pawan Bansal, who used to be the president of the Youth Congress in Punjab, sent us to Delhi in 1983, where I handled former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s famous 20-point programme.”

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He said that he worked religiously and it was due to his diligent working style that Sharma and nine others from the team were picked by former PM Rajiv Gandhi to look after the party affairs in his constituency of Amethi. “Mujhe dedh block ka in-charge banaya gaya tha (Initially, I was assigned the task of managing party affairs in one-and-a-half blocks). I was looking after the Bahadurpur block and half of Toloi. However, after seeing my consistency and dedication, I was assigned one state Assembly seat, then three, then one Parliament seat and so on,” Sharma told News18.

He said that in 2012, he left Amethi and got posted as a secretary of All India Congress Committee at the national level. In 2014, when there was no strong hand available for the Lok Sabha elections, he chose to come down to Raebareli as a representative of Sonia Gandhi.

AMETHI: THE CONGRESS BASTION

The Congress has won Amethi 11 times in the 14 Lok Sabha elections held for the seat till date. The first Congress candidate to win from Amethi was V D Bajpai in 1967, and then again in 1971. In 1977, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s younger son Sanjay Gandhi contested the seat for the first time, but lost. In 1980 though, Sanjay won his first Lok Sabha election from the seat. Months after his death, his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi won the seat in a bypoll in 1981 against Lok Dal candidate Sharad Yadav by over two lakh votes.

Rajiv Gandhi, who went on to become India’s Prime Minister in 1984 after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi, represented Amethi multiple times, winning the elections in 1984, 1989 and 1991.

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However, following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991, Satish Sharma, a close aide of the family, won the by-elections for the Amethi seat. He was re-elected in 1996. Two years later, Sharma lost to BJP’s Sanjay Singh in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. In 1999, Rajiv Gandhi’s wife Sonia entered active politics with a debut from Amethi. Five years later, she vacated the seat for her son Rahul, and moved to Raebareli. In the next three elections, Rahul Gandhi carried forward the legacy of the Gandhis, winning three successive elections before his shock defeat to Irani in 2019.

Since the first Lok Sabha election following the second delimitation, the Congress has lost the Amethi seat only thrice — 1977, 1998 and 2019.