Anurag Sharma named Congress candidate for RS poll from Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has announced Kangra District Congress Committee president Anurag Sharma as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election from Himachal Pradesh, scheduled for March 16.

The last date for filing nominations is March 5(Thursday).Reeling from the 2024 Rajya Sabha election setback, the Congress has this time taken a cautious route by nominating a candidate from the hill state avoiding the internal dissent that cost them the previous election despite having 40 seats in the 68-member legislative assembly.Sharma, who comes from the Baijnath assembly constituency in Kangra district, is considered close to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and is also current president of the Billing Paragliding Association.

A young face, Sharma, who started his political career as member of the National Students’ Union of India(NSUI), student wing of the Congress, in 1995, was appointed president of the Kangra District Congress Committee in January this year.

Kangra is the most populous and politically significant district of Himachal Pradesh.This Rajya Sabha seat is being vacated by BJP leader Indu Bala Goswami. At present, all three Rajya Sabha seats from the state are held by BJP members.

However, Congress holds a clear majority in the state legislative assembly with 40 of 68 seats, compared to BJP’s 28, positioning the ruling party strongly to secure the seat.Several other names were considered before finalising Sharma. Central leaders in contention included former Union minister Anand Sharma, Himachal Pradesh party in-charge Rajani Patil and party national spokesperson Pawan Khera. Among state leaders under consideration were health minister Colonel Dhani Ram Shandil (retd.),

former state party president Pratibha Singh, and former ministers Kaul Singh Thakur and Asha Kumari.

Names of the advisors to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu—Sunil Bittu (political), Gokul Butail (IT), and Naresh Chauhan (media)—were also discussed.The party’s cautious approach follows a setback in the February 2024 Rajya Sabha polls, when Congress’s candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost despite holding 40 assembly seats and support from three independents. Cross-voting by six rebel Congress MLAs and three independents led to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan winning the seat, after which all nine legislators joined BJP, causing political turbulence in the state.