K L Sharma, Congress’ first non-Gandhi candidate to contest from Amethi in two decades

After much suspense on Congress’ Amethi candidate, the party on Friday, finally named Kishori Lal Sharma, a longtime loyalist of the Gandhi family, as the party’s candidate from the family bastion. 

Rahul Gandhi, who was expected to win back Amethi, has been announced as the party candidate from Raebareli. Gandhi had lost Amethi, a Gandhi family stronghold to the BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.

KL Sharma thanked the party for the opportunity to contest from Amethi - Gandhis' family bastion - in Uttar Pradesh. Sharma thanked the party for the opportunity to contest from Amethi  saying, “I would like to thank Khargeji, Sonia ji, Rahul ji, and Priyanka ji for giving a "chotte" karyakarta like me an opportunity to contest from a seat that is their family bastion. I will work hard. I have been working in this constituency for the last 40 years.”

He has been in the grand old party for more than four decades. He hails from Ludhiana in Punjab and first came to Amethi in 1987. Since then, he has been working for the party in the constituency.

According to party sources, Sharma was a close associate of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. His bond with the Gandhi family grew stronger after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991.

He is also said to have played a key role in Sonia Gandhi's first win from Amethi in 1999, which earned her a seat in Parliament. Sharma managed party affairs in Amethi and Raebareili after Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat for son Rahul.

According to a Business Today report, Sharma is widely popular in the constituency and has actively worked towards improving infrastructure in the Lok Sabha constituency. This includes construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, schools and healthcare facilities. He supported the establishment of hospitals, clinics, and health centers. He has also advocated for better connectivity within the region, it said. As Pro-Chancellor of Jaipur National University, Sharma has encouraged initiatives that provide quality education to the youth. 

Given Amethi's largely rural character, KL Sharma, if voted to power, is also expected to focus on policies related to agriculture, irrigation and rural agriculture along with measures to improve farmers' income. 

Amethi will vote in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20. The Congress is contesting 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. In the remaining 63 seats, the INDIA bloc will have nominees from the Samajwadi Party and other smaller allies.