Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 21
The Congress party received a big jolt ahead of assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh as its senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the Chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for the poll-bound state.
In a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Sharma had reportedly said that his self-respect is “non-negotiable” and he had resigned from the post. His resignation comes after another leader of the G23 grouping Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned as chairman of the campaign committee in Jammu and Kashmir a few days ago.
Sharma reportedly told the Congress Chief that he had been ignored in the consultation process. However, he told Gandhi that he would continue to campaign for the party candidates in the state.
Anand, the former Union Minister and Deputy Leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, was appointed as Chairman of the Steering Committee in Himachal Pradesh on April 26. Both Azad and Sharma are prominent leaders of the G23 grouping that had been dubbed as working against the party leadership.
The group comprising prominent veterans has been insisting on organisational elections right from the block up to the CWC level.
The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh in assembly polls scheduled to be held later this year.
Sharma, who first contested assembly elections in 1982 and was given a Rajya Sabha ticket by then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, has been a member of the Upper House of Parliament ever since and has occupied several key positions in the party.
