'Not Gandhi Family's Servant': Congress' Amethi Candidate KL Sharma Reacts To BJP's 'Peon' Dig

Congress leader KL Sharma (Image Courtesy: Congress)

Congress’ Amethi candidate KL Sharma on Sunday responded to the Bharatiya Janata party’s ‘peon’ dig and said was a ‘pure politician’ and not a servant of the Gandhi-Nehru family. The Gandhi family loyalist further stressed that Union Minister Smriti Irani will be defeated in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

“It was a decision taken by the party high command. Nobody had been finalised as a candidate for this seat earlier. However, I can say with full confidence and conviction that I will defeat Smriti Irani. This is a big statement I am making today. ‘Mai koi Naukri nahi kar raha Gandhi Parivar ki’ (I am not a servant of the Gandhi family),” he said.

“I am a seasoned politician and have been so for many years now. I came here in 1983 through my association with the Youth Congress. I am not on the payroll of the Congress. I am a pure politician.” Sharma added.

His statement came a day after BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh, Rahul Gandhi’s opponent from Rae Bareli, said that the Congress stalwart had sent his ‘peon’ to contest the elections against Smriti Irani.

Sharma is known to be the Gandhi family’s point-person in Rae Bareli and Amethi. In a surprise move, the Congress fielded Sharma from Amethi, while sending Rahul Gandhi– the former MP from the seat– to contest from his mother Sonia Gandhi’s old Lok Sabha constituency, Rae Bareli.

On the BJP’s increased vote share in Amethi and Raebareli in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sharma said it was a pass muster at distracting public attention from the ‘real’ issues and that is what they have been doing over the last 10 years in power at the Centre.

“The BJP has weaponised the media (against the Opposition). Leaders and parties in the Opposition are not getting space to pursue and practice their politics. How many times has Rahul-ji been given space? People are questioning them (BJP) on what they have done in the last 10 years but they divert from the real issues and talk about mangalsutras. This election, to my mind, has echoes of ‘India Shining’ (a campaign by the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee going into the 2004 Lok Sabha elections),” he said.

Claiming the BJP has not fulfilled the promises it made in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leader said, “Look at their manifesto from 2014. PM Modi said that he will give pucca houses to everyone by 2022. The promise is yet to be fulfilled. Look at the Ujjwala scheme, they only quote numbers. But what about refilling those cylinders? The people are now starting to understand everything.”

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.