Son is Congress candidate, BJP minister says won’t campaign for party in Mandi

SHIMLA

: BJP Himachal Pradesh minister Anil Sharma has refused to campaign for the party candidate from Mandi constituency, from where his son Aashray Sharma is contesting on a Congress ticket.


BJP had asked Anil to attend a ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ event in Jahu, Mandi, as part of campaigning for party nominee

Ram Swaroop Sharma

on Sunday, but he told TOI on Saturday that he would not attend it.

The minister, whose ex-Union minister father Sukh Ram and son joined the Congress on March 25, said he would not resign from the state cabinet either, until the party explicitly asked him to do so.

Aashray’s candidature from the Congress was announced on Friday. “How can I campaign against my own son in Mandi parliamentary seat. I have informed the party I will campaign in Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla parliamentary seats, but not in Mandi,” Anil told TOI, when contacted on phone. He said he would keep neutral in Mandi by neither campaigning for his son (Congress) nor for BJP.

The minister said he was under “mental stress” because of the recent developments. He added that he had informed chief minister Jai Ram Thakur about his son’s plan to join the Congress when BJP had shown reluctance in fielding Aashray. “I had requested the chief minister to control the damage, but he took my requests lightly. Had chief minister taken steps on my suggestions, the situation would have been different in Mandi,” he said, adding that Thakur was being ill-advised by some who were active even when Prem Kumar Dhumal was the chief minister as they don’t want the CM to become strong.

He said if he would resign, it would only strengthen speculations that he was in touch with Congress leaders for a ticket to his son. “I have informed party general secretary Ram Singh about not attending Sunday’s programne because it is being held in Mandi,” he said.