Kishori Lal Sharma: From Rajiv Gandhi's 'high potential boy' to Congress party's pick for VIP Amethi seat
(This story originally appeared in on May 05, 2024)
Kishori Lal Sharma is the first of the cadre of youngsters recruited by Rajiv Gandhi who, new to politics in 1983, had the idea of creating a team of young ideologues who would provide feedback on the implementation of govt policies and also specialise in constituency management. They came to be known as the «high potential boys», a total of 10 shortlisted out of 135 following an evaluation of their performance in districts where they were posted for some time.
AICC general secretary and J&K politician Ghulam Ahmed Mir recalls that Sharma and he, part of the first batch, were very young, and were sent to Amethi to look after the constituency. While Mir went on to become a name in Kashmir politics, Sharma, who hails from Ludhiana, stayed on with Amethi and Rae Bareli, spending four decades in the family borough. «After the Nehru-Gandhi family, Sharma is the man best known to workers and locals,» Mir said.
No wonder, he was elated at his «batchmate» becoming the Congress candidate for the VIP seat. Mir now plans to campaign for his friend in the constituency he once managed for the party and its first family.
Four decades of affiliation, from Rajiv Gandhi to Satish Sharma to Sonia Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi, and the resultant trust, is what made the Gandhis pick «Kishoriji» above any relative or loyalist as the standard bearer in the place identified with them.
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