Congress' KL Sharma files nomination papers from Amethi, says ‘Want people to give a chance'

livemint.com:

Lok Sabha elections. “Who will win or lose from here, it's in people's hands, we will work hard... Election is just a formality, people make their mood for those who work for them.

People have this perception that whom they elected earlier was good or bad," Sharma told media persons. “The people of Amethi are in my heart. I have been here for 40 years.

I am following what has been directed to me by the top leadership. I just want people to give me a chance in their service," he added. Kishori Lal Sharma, Gandhi family loyalist, has been fielded from Amethi, the seat that Rahul Gandhi lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

This time, Smriti Irani will fight against KL Sharma in Amethi that will go to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections on May 20. The Congress party released the names of candidates on May 3, the last date of filing of nominations for the two seats, thus ending the weeks-long speculation about party candidates for the two seats. The grand old party 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. KL Sharma, a Congress loyalist, hails from Ludhiana, Punjab. His association with Congress can be traced back to 1983, when he began working with Rajiv Gandhi.

After Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, he worked with Captain Satish Sharma in Amethi and was associated with Sonia Gandhi as the in charge of the constituency, when she first contested the elections from Amethi in 1999. Later for some time, he worked as in-charge of both Rae Bareli and Amethi seats. After Sonia Gandhi vacated the Amethi seat and moved to Rae Bareli, KL Sharma moved to the city with her.