Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma, who has been fielded by his party to contest from Kangra Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, said that he is ready to “accept the challenge.”
“I am from Himachal, and I am in politics due to the blessings of the people of the state. Today, the party’s organization has taken a decision for me and I accept this challenge. Kangra is not a new place for me, I have been there hundreds of times. When I was the union minister, I didn’t forget the state…I have been asked and hence I am going amongst my people,” Sharma said speaking to ANI on Wednesday.
On allegations by the BJP that Sharma mostly stays away from Himachal Pradesh, he hit back, saying that BJP has a narrow mindset.
“BJP has a narrow mindset. JP Nadda is from my state, I am happy that he is the national president of the BJP. He moves around the country. Similarly, the PM is from Gujarat, did Congress ever say to the PM, why don’t you contest from Gujarat? They talk about ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’, but they are drawing the line for someone who was born in Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh only…,” Sharma said.
Heaping praises on his party for fielding him from Kangra, he said, “We are the party which believes in internal democracy, despite everything I was made a Congress working committee member, and today I have been given another responsibility. I have never uttered a single word opposing the organisation’s ideology or the party’s leadership…”
Sharma who has mostly been in the Rajya Sabha during his political career, unsuccesfully contested from the Kangra Assembly elections in 1982 when he was defeated by BJP’s Daulat Ram.
The BJP has fielded Rajeev Bhardwaj from its bastion at Kangra, the seat which it had held since 2004.
Notably, Himachal Pradesh has four Lok Sabha seats: Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla, and Kangra. The BJP had won all four seats in 2019.
The elections to the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh and by-polls to the six assembly constituencies that fell vacant with the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs will be held on June 1.
Voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 was held on Friday across 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territories.