Who is Kishori Lal Sharma? An interesting question, however, the answer could not only be interesting but also intriguing. Why so? Let me take you all through a five-month-old journey. In November 2023 if I had put up a similar question - who is Mohan Yadav? Possibly your answer would have been - I do not know, who is he. Even today most people wouldn’t know him, who is he unless I say that he is the current CM of Madhya Pradesh. He was practically a non-entity before becoming the CM. He is a nonentity even today if you remove the CM and party tag. The same is true for the Rajasthan CM-Bhajan Lal Sharma.
Kishori Lal Sharma (Source/X(ANI)
BJP has replaced the iconic CMs from MP, CG, and Rajasthan in a single stroke. And filled up the position by absolute non-entity. In the years ahead they may also turn out to be some entity. Possibly the BJP leadership has seen some spark in them. So in November 2023 If I had asked you who is Bhajan Lal Sharma or Mohan Yadav, perhaps people would have looked at my face with surprise - who they are. Possibly many people wouldn’t have voted for them if they knew that they were going to be the CM candidates replacing Shivraj Sing Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje. Things were discrete. But now things are not discrete. Kishori Lal Sharma is the Congress face for Amethi.
It is good that people are asking who Kishori Lal Sharma is, even before the election. Here nothing is discrete. Congress has given the prestigious seat to Kishori Lal Sharma. Sharma is a well-deserving candidate for over forty years of dedicated and loyal service to the party and public as well. Unlike many others, he didn’t spring up as a mushroom. Sharma's connection to politics and Amethi goes back to the early eighties when he first entered the region as a Congress activist. He is not an opportunist politician. Kishori Lal Sharma made his bone working closely with Rajiv Gandhi from 1983 onwards, and playing a crucial role in managing his interests in Rae Bareli and Amethi.
After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, Kishori Lal Sharma played a thread bearer pivotal role in Sonia Gandhi's entry into electoral politics and victory in 1999. He continued to be a silent worker in the party much away from the limelight while acting as Sonia Gandhi’s representative in Rae Bareli as well as overseeing Amethi too.
Pitted against BJP’s Smriti Irani, Kishori Lal Sharma now facing an uphill task. However, it is said that he enjoys significant popularity in the constituency due to his strong ground connection and his efforts to improve infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, and healthcare facilities there. Anyway, Congress being out of power in the state for a long and at the center for the last ten years, the battle is not going to be an easy one.
If we try to draw a parity with Smriti Irani in 2014, things may not be very adversely placed against Kishori Lal Sharma. In 2014 Smriti Irani was relatively new in politics as well as new to the constituency. Apart from her teleserial acting background she hardly had any credibility. However, she had the advantage of being a known face to the audience because of her TV background which is the reason for many actors/actresses winning elections. Most of them have turned up to be poor politicians or administrators. Smitri Irani is no different. But BJP used her teleserial popular image brilliantly to build up a strong connect with the public. She shot up to the limelight for fighting against Rahul Gandhi in 2014. She was made a minister and given a fat portfolio despite her defeat. This was done to position her strongly in the party and in front of the public. And come 2019, she defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, the traditional beston of the Gandhi family.
I believe this is a brilliant stroke from Congress by snatching away all the spotlight from Smriti Irani. She enjoyed the celebrity status because of her fight against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. Rahul Gandhi not fighting from Amethi is enough to make her insignificant even if she wins with a bigger margin. She will just be another MP from the BJP. Secondly, Amethi might be missing the blistering campaign from the BJP. Rahul Gandhi fighting for Amethi takes the battle to a different level for the BJP as well as among the party workers since it was a battle royal. Now the the battle for Amethi is no longer a battle royal. Which could give great leverage to Kishori Lal Sharma
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has taken the limelight to Rae Bareli without giving BJP any time to make a countermove. It seems Congress is working with some great strategic game plan. Moving Sonia Gandhi to the RS was a master plan. Congress kept the card very close to its heart. It didn’t allow anyone to know about the Rae Bareli game plan. BJP was in all preparedness to fight Rahul in Amethi. But Rahul has smartly changed the battleground to Rae Bareli. No nobody can blame Rahul for not fighting from Amethi. Good strategic move to baffle the BJP. Meanwhile, you can not take Kishori Lal Sharma lightly. He is a serious player of the game. Don’t be surprised if he turns up to be a giant killer. He comes up with a very strong credible base to represent Congress from Amethi.
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