Veteran Congress leader and seven-time MLA from Churu district’s Sardarshahar, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, died here on Sunday after a prolonged illness. He was 77. He was being treated for multiple infections at Sawai Man Singh Government Hospital in Jaipur.
Mr. Sharma was among the 18 MLAs who had joined the rebellion led by the then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot in July 2020. His name emerged during the crisis when some audio tapes containing conversations allegedly about toppling the Congress government in Rajasthan were leaked.
The Congress party had suspended Mr. Sharma when his purported voice was revealed in the audio tapes. The first information report registered by the Rajasthan police had named him as being involved in the plot to destabilise the government after the recordings depicted purported conversations between Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Mr. Sharma and another BJP leader.
After Mr. Sharma met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in August 2020 and declared that the State government was safe, his suspension was revoked. The MLA had said that the tussle in the party was an “internal matter”, which had been resolved, and affirmed that a floor test in the State Assembly would clear the situation.
Following Mr. Pilot’s failed rebellion, Mr. Sharma was seen as part of the Gehlot camp in the ruling Congress. He was elected an MLA for the first time in 1985 on the Lok Dal ticket and in 1990 on the Janata Dal ticket, followed by his victory in by-election in 1996 as a Congress candidate.
After joining the Congress, Mr. Sharma won the Assembly elections from Sardarshahar in 1998, 2003, 2013 and 2018. He was suspended from Congress party earlier in 2014 for attacking Rahul Gandhi following the party’s defeat in Lok Sabha elections.
Rajasthan Govenor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra and Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria have condoled Mr. Sharma’s death. Mr. Gehlot said he had reached SMS Hospital on Saturday night and enquired about his health from the doctors treating him and met his family members.
