Congress drops Sunil Sharma after 'The Jaipur Dialogues' row

Congress party has dropped Sunil Sharma from the Jaipur Lok Sabha constituency after his candidature caused an uproar over his alleged links to the right-wing forum 'The Jaipur Dialogues'.

Instead, the party has chosen former Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Pratap Singh Khachariyawas for the key constituency.

Sharma was named in the Congress' third candidates list announced on March 21. Sharma's candidature caused controversy, with many calling for his replacement.

Congress party MP Shashi Tharoor even raised this on social media, wondering how Sharma found himself on the candidates list.

"He must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar! This is just one of several dozen tweets from his handle attacking me," he said on X.

Amidst rising speculations, Sharma issued a clarification saying that while he has attended some panel discussions hosted by Jaipur Dialogues, he has no link with its management.

He further said that he parted ways with the company long back and rumours are now being spread with vested interests.

"I was never associated with the management of Jaipur Dialogues YouTube channel. I am often invited by TV channels and YouTube platforms as a panelist to articulate the Congress perspective. In the same way, The Jaipur Dialogues invited me to speak on social issues and elaborate the Congress vision. There I strongly opposed religious bigotry," he said in a statement in Hindi, posted on X.

Also read | Congress' Jaipur pick for Lok Sabha election triggers controversy