BJP's Anil Sharma quits as Himachal minister after son joins Congress

Himachal Pradesh Power Minister Anil Sharma resigned from the BJP government on Friday, days after the Congress fielded his son Aashray Sharma as its candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.

Anil Sharma. Photo: Facebook

SHIMLA: Days after his son Aashray Sharma joined the Congress party, Himachal Pradesh Power Minister Anil Sharma resigned from the BJP government on Friday. Aashray joined the Congress last month and was made its candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. He is pitted against BJP's sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma. Anil's father, Sukh Ram, had also quit the saffron party and joined the Congress in March. "I have resigned from the ministry as during a public meeting in my Assembly segment Mandi yesterday, the CM said 'my minister (Anil Sharma) is lost somewhere, if someone is aware about his whereabouts, let me know'," PTI quoted Anil Sharma as saying after sending his resignation to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's office. "If the CM loses his faith in a minister, there are only two options: either the CM should expel him from the ministry or the minister himself should resign. So, I thought it better to resign from the ministry," he said. The friction between the Chief Minister and Anil Sharma surfaced when the latter's son Ashray left the BJP and rejoined the Congress along with his grandfather Sukh Ram. Anil Sharma joined the BJP right before the 2017 assembly election after resigning from the Congress. He, however, clarified that though he had resigned from the ministry, he remains with the saffron party. BJP state president Satpal Singh Satti said the chief minister would decide on Anil Sharma's resignation. "The CM is in Mandi today and will come to Shimla tomorrow, and will decide accordingly," Satti told PTI. A Raj Bhawan official said Governor Acharya Devvrat had not received Anil Sharma's resignation yet. The BJP expected Anil Sharma to campaign for Mandi Lok Sabha candidate and sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma, who is contesting against Aashray Sharma. But, Anil Sharma refused and suggested that he was willing to quit the ministry over it. Agnihotri asked Anil Sharma to campaign for Congress candidates after his resignation from the ministry. But Anil Sharma said he would neither campaign for his son nor Ram Swaroop Sharma. "My blessings are with my son Aashray. It is up to the electors whom they will vote for victory." Himachal Pradesh will vote in its four Lok Sabha seats on May 19.