In Amethi, Gandhi family loyalist on the verge of defeating Smriti Irani: Who is K L Sharma?

Before Sharma, it was speculated that AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest the seat but the party finally chose Sharma, a longtime Gandhi family aide, as Rahul Gandhi opted to contest from neighbouring Rae Bareli.

Sharma, originally from Ludhiana in Punjab, was first picked up under a programme launched by Rajiv Gandhi, who made his electoral debut from Amethi in 1981, to identify a young brigade from outside the region to monitor development work in his seat. As part of this, Sharma, then in his 20s, was initially made the in-charge of the Tiloi Assembly constituency under the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.

Gradually, Sharma became part of Rajiv’s team as he re-contested Amethi, in 1989 and then 1991. He continued to play the same role after Rajiv’s assassination when Captain Satish Sharma contested from Amethi.

After Sonia Gandhi made the electoral plunge in 1999, Sharma’s role expanded. When Sonia moved on to Rae Bareli in 2004, and Rahul Gandhi made his entry into politics from Amethi, Sharma started looking after both constituencies. In 2004 and 2009, he was the backroom man in Amethi and Rae Bareli seats, for Rahul and Sonia, respectively.

In 2014, however, as per sources, Rahul expressed a desire to have his own team in Amethi. After this, Sharma concentrated mainly on Rae Bareli. A senior leader in Amethi hinted that Rahul’s loss to BJP leader Smriti Irani in 2019 may not be delinked from the change.

Praising Sharma as “a very soft-spoken and humble person”, the leader said: “The fact remains that the Congress’s victory margins in Amethi were high till the time Sharma was managing the polls and dropped drastically by 2 lakh when he left, though there were other factors as well. Plus, Rae Bareli (which Sharma continued to manage) has been retained by the party.”

Apart from his duties in Amethi and Rae Bareli, Sharma has also served as the AICC secretary in charge of Bihar.