The nerve-wracking suspense around Congress' candidate for the Amethi Lok Sabha Seat came to an end today. The Congress party has fielded its trusted hand, KL Sharma, from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, earlier represented by Rahul Gandhi. On the other hand, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will contest from Rae Bareli seat, vacated by Sonia Gandhi. In Lok Sabha Elections 2024, KL Sharma will now compete against Smriti Irani, the present BJP MP from Amethi.
Congress releases another list of candidates for the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2024
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2024
Rahul Gandhi to contest from Raebareli and Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi. pic.twitter.com/2w4QQcn9ok
Sharma is originally from Ludhiana, Punjab. The Gandhi family is thought to be very close to KL Sharma who has been managing the work at Rae Bareli as Sonia Gandhi's agent for a considerable amount of time.
Along with Rajiv Gandhi, Kishori Lal Sharma stepped in Rae Bareli and Amethi in 1983. His bond with the Gandhi family became closer after Rajiv Gandhi passed away. Thereafter, he continued to be connected to the Gandhi family.
Following Rajiv Gandhi's demise in 1991, Sharma continued to visit Rae Bareli and Amethi, occasionally to cater to the work of Sheila Kaul and other times that of Satish Sharma.
KL Sharma accompanied Sonia Gandhi to Amethi as she made her foray into active politics. KL Sharma assumed supervision of both the Rae Bareli and Amethi seats when Sonia Gandhi moved to Rae Bareli and left the Amethi seat for Rahul Gandhi. KL Sharma began overseeing the work related to the seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli. In addition to leading Amethi, it's believed that KL Sharma will continue to manage Rahul Gandhi's work from Rae Bareli.
Although members of the Congress began to leave over time, KL Sharma has always been incredibly loyal and dedicated. He switched between being in charge of Bihar and joining the Punjab committee. At times, he continued to be an AICC member, while at other times, he held control of the electoral arena.