In an unexpected move on Thursday, the Congress removed Alok Sharma from his role as AICC secretary attached to Bhupesh Baghel, the general secretary in charge of Punjab. However, as a consolation, Sharma was retained as one of the party’s media panelists.
Sharma’s claim to fame has been his aggressive approach during the television debates to defend his party. During one of his recent debates he had an acrimonious encounter with one of the leading lady anchors of a leading television channel. He rose to prominence in the party for combative handling of the anchors as well as the political opponents during the debates.
The timing of his removal was as surprising as the removal itself, which came immediately after the AICC session concluded in Ahmedabad. While the session concluded on April 9, he was removed on April 10.
Sharma was seen more frequently in Punjab, more than Bhagel. He was one of the two secretaries “attached with” Bhagel. Ravindra Dalvi is the second secretary attached with him. Dalvi has been retained.
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The Congress insiders disclosed that Sharma was projecting himself as the “co-in-charge” of the party for Punjab, while actually he was only attached with the general secretary in charge of Punjab.
He was believed to have chalked an “independent” course where he reportedly tried to accommodate some of the dissident leaders, much to the chagrin of the PCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and the Congress Legislative Party Leader Partap Singh Bajwa.
Another reason for his removal is believed to be his publicly snubbing the three-time Congress MP Sher Singh Gubaya during a function at the Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh. Gubaya had reportedly complained to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi that he was publicly humiliated by Sharma, apparently because he belonged to the Dalit community.
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