‘Father’s humiliation was intolerable’

MANDI: Animal husbandry minister Anil Sharma inherited politics from his father, former Union minister Sukh Ram, a reckoning force in Himachal politics in the 1990s. Sukh Ram was instrumental in the formation of a coalition government with the BJP in 1998 when he quit Congress and formed the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), winning five seats in the state assembly. Elected to the Assembly in 1993 for the first time from his father’s assembly segment Mandi, Anil Sharma kicked up a storm in the Congress as he switched over to the BJP ahead of polls. Sharma has accused the Congress of insulting his father, which prompted him to quit the party.

Why did you quit Congress?

It was not an instant decision. I was humiliated and sidelined in the party for four and half years. My father, a veteran leader, was also insulted during Rahul Gandhi’s recent rally at Mandi, when he was barred sharing the dias with the Congress vice-president.

You say the party sidelined you. But you were a minister in the government.

See I won the assembly elections in 2012 by a handsome margin but chief minister Virbhadra Singh ignored my seniority and did not offer me a ministerial birth. I was inducted only after AICC president Sonia Gandhi intervened. But even after that the humiliation did not stop.

Why did you leave the party right before the polls?

I did not think of quitting until recently, when I found out that my name was missing from the list of the state’s campaign committee. All other cabinet ministers were on the panel. State party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu told me that my name was initially on the list but was later deleted for unknown reasons. I take it as an insult.

Does your father support you in this decision?

Definitely. CM Virbhadra Singh insulted my father Sukh Ram during a party workers’ meet, in front of party’s Himachal in-charge Sushil Kumar Shinde. During Rahul Gandhi’s Mandi rally earlier this month, they first invited him and then when he reached the venue, he was not allowed to share the dias. This was done at Virbhadra’s behest. He had travelled from Delhi to Mandi despite poor health. This humiliation was intolerable.

Will you be comfortable with the BJP after serving the Congress for so many years?

My father formed the HVC when he was expelled from the Congress. He entered into a post-poll alliance with the BJP and was instrumental in the formation of a coalition government that completed a full five-year term. So, I have already worked with the BJP. Moreover, I feel that I will be able to complete the development projects in my assembly segment which I started during my term but could not complete due to the hurdles created by chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

Or the shift is just for political survival as Congress is seeing a downfall?

My family has been in politics for over six decades. So there was no such crisis. My decision was a result of the continuous insult by the party.