News Brief
After Facing Flak, Congress Cancels Lok Sabha Ticket Of Sunil Sharma For Association With Jaipur Dialogues, Nominates Khachariyawas
One of the Jaipur Dialogues venues.
After a political uproar, the Congress party decided to replace Sunil Sharma with former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas as its candidate for the Jaipur City Lok Sabha seat.
Sharma's association with the right-wing forum Jaipur Dialogues, known for its criticism of the Congress leadership and minority appeasement, brew into a full blown controversy, leading to cancellation of his ticket, as per a report by The Hindu.
The decision to drop Sunil Sharma came after senior leader Shashi Tharoor questioned the party's choice on social media, highlighting Sharma's association with Jaipur Dialogues.
Sharma denied being a director of Jaipur Dialogues and stated that he had severed ties with the platform.
The Jaipur City Lok Sabha seat is considered a stronghold of the Brahmin community, but Sharma's association with Jaipur Dialogues raised concerns.
He claimed to have been invited to speak on social issues in line with the Congress's vision and denied any affiliation with the platform.
The Congress faced discomfort over the issue and decided to replace Sharma, despite his family's long association with the party. Sharma's father was a freedom fighter and a general secretary in the Congress Socialist Party, while his brother was a prominent figure in the Congress in Jaipur.
Chowdhary Lal Singh, who has been fielded from the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, also faced criticism due to his past controversies.
Singh, a former Congress MP who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 before rejoining the Congress, had supported the accused in the Kathua gang rape case in 2018.
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