Captain Sharma Passes Away: Rahul Gandhi Lends Shoulder To The Mortal Remains Of The Veteran Congress Loyalist Who Died On Feb 17

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of Capt Satish Sharma which was held today in Delhi. He was seen lending shoulder to his bier.

Image Courtesy: ANI

Congress leader and former Union Minister Captain Satish Sharma passed away in Goa on Wednesday, February 17. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present at Capt Sharma's funeral which was held in Delhi today. A picture also surfaced where Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress President was seen lending his shoulder to Capt Sharma's bier while the mortal remains were being taken for cremation.

Captain Satish Sharma was 73 years old and was suffering from cancer.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared a photo of Captain Satish Sharma with the Gandhi family expressing, 'I will miss you deeply.'

Who was Captain Satish Sharma? 

The dead body of captain Satish Sharma was brought from Goa to Delhi. Sharma is survived by his wife and a son and a daughter. Sharma, a close associate of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas from 1993 to 1996 in the Narasimha Rao government. During this time, there was a controversy regarding the allocation of petrol pumps and doubts were raised about him. Not only this, the Supreme Court had also canceled the allocation of petrol pumps made by Sharma in 1997 and imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh. Although this penalty was later abolished by the court, Captain Satish Sharma could never get out of the shadow of this dispute. While hearing the case, the Supreme Court had remarked, 'It seems like Captain Satish Sharma was king and petrol pumps were personal property for him'. 

He was born on 11 October 1947 in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Sharma was a professional commercial pilot. Sharma, who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, was elected a three-time Lok Sabha member. He also became a Rajya Sabha member three times and represented Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

He first became a Rajya Sabha member in June 1986 and later was elected a Lok Sabha member from Amethi in 1991 following the demise of Rajiv Gandhi. After this, he was a Rajya Sabha member from July 2004 to 2016.