Anand Sharma Resigns as Chairman of Steering Committee of Himachal Congress

GG News Bureau

Shimla, 22^nd August. In a blow to the Congress ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, senior leader Anand Sharma resigned from the party’s state steering committee on Sunday.

Sharma is said to have said in a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi that he was not consulted on the planning for the assembly elections and cited several instances where he was not even invited to discussions.

Sharma stated in his letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi that his self-respect is “non-negotiable,” and thus resigned from the post, according to sources.

His resignation comes just days after another G23 leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, resigned as chairman of the campaign committee in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sharma informed Congress President Rahul Gandhi that he had been ignored during the consultation process. He did, however, tell Gandhi that he would continue to campaign for party candidates in the state.

The Congress leader will begin a mass contact campaign on Tuesday, meeting with supporters and party workers in Kasauli and other locations.

Sharma, a former Union minister and Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, was appointed chairman of the Himachal Pradesh steering committee on April 26.

Azad and Sharma are both prominent leaders of the G23 grouping, which has been critical of the party leadership’s decisions.

The group, which includes prominent veterans such as Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Manish Tewari, has been insisting on genuine elections from the block level all the way up to the CWC level.

Sharma’s resignation from the top party position is also a setback for the Congress’ efforts to appease internal “rebels.” The development may harm the party’s chances in the assembly elections.

Earlier this week, the party’s former working president Pawn Kala and another MLA left the Congress to join the BJP.

Sharma, considered one of Himachal Pradesh’s tallest leaders, reportedly told the Congress president in his letter that his self-respect has been harmed because he has not been consulted or invited to any of the party’s meetings.

On April 26, the Congress president appointed a new HPCC president, CLP leader, and campaign committee chairman. The AICC also announced eight other committees, including a steering committee led by Anand Sharma and convened by Asha Kumari.

Sharma reportedly wrote to AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, seeking clarification on the AICC’s multiple committees and overlapping functions.

He had asked Venugopal and AICC in-charge Rajiv Shukla to clarify the steering committee’s mandate.

According to the sources, the senior Congress leader informed the party president that meetings of the HPCC core group and senior leaders on election strategy and preparations have since taken place in both Delhi and Shimla.

On June 20, senior leaders, including the PCC president, CLP leader, and chairman of the campaign committee, as well as members of other committees, met for election preparations, while the in-charge and central AICC observers visited Shimla on August 7 and 8.

However, the chairman of the steering committee was neither informed nor invited to any of the meetings, he told Gandhi.

In the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections later this year, the Congress hopes to unseat the BJP.