The Congress on Sunday dropped Sunil Sharma as its Lok Sabha nominee from Rajasthan’s Jaipur after a controversy erupted over his alleged association with right-wing platform The Jaipur Dialogues, reported The Indian Express.
The party has replaced Sharma with former Cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas. Sharma’s candidature from the constituency was announced on Thursday.
Sharma and his family have had a long association with the Congress. He is also the chairman and chancellor of the Suresh Gyan Vihar University in Jaipur.
On Saturday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the party for giving a ticket to Sharma despite his alleged association with The Jaipur Dialogues.
The platform, which describes itself as a platform for the “right thinking people”, was launched in 2016 by retired Indian Administrative Service officer Sanjay Dixit. Its YouTube channel has posted videos mocking the Opposition.
Tharoor had shared a post from the platform regarding him and said: “He [Sharma] must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar.”
The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram also shared a post from The Jaipur Dialogues account that had allegedly mocked him and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Sharma has been featured in some videos posted on the channel. On November 5, Sharma was a panellist in a debate hosted by The Jaipur Dialogues on “Digital Divide in India – AI and Civilisation”.
However, Sharma had distanced himself from the platform on Saturday.
“I have never had anything to do with the management of the Jaipur Dialogue YouTube channel,” he had said in a statement. “I am often invited on all news channels and YouTube channels as a panellist on building an inclusive India as per the Congress philosophy.”
Sharma said that The Jaipur Dialogues’ YouTube channel had invited him to speak on various social issues to express the Congress’ vision.
He added: “I have long ago severed ties with the directorship of Jaipur Dialogue Forum (which has nothing to do with the ownership of YouTube) about which some people, due to their vested interests, are spreading rumours.”
Sharma is listed as one of the directors of The Jaipur Dialogues, The Indian Express reported citing publicly available information on websites that collate such data.
On Sunday, Sharma, while talking to The Indian Express hours after he was replaced by the Congress, said that he was a director ofa platform named The Jaipur Dialogues Forum, which was also run by Dixit.
But he said that he had no association with JD Digital Private Limited, which he alleged was behind The Jaipur Dialogues’ social media accounts and shared controversial material.
“I have no association with Jaipur Digital through which he [Dixit] spews venom or earns money,” said Sharma.
He said that The Jaipur Dialogues Forum was a charity organisation and had been registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Sharma added that he had left the organisation last year.
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