No revenge in politics; it’s about sportsmanship in wins and losses: Kishori Lal Sharma

PTI, Jun 5, 2024, 4:55 PM IST

Kishori Lal Sharma (R) with Rahul Gandhi (Credit: PTI)

New Delhi: Congress’ newly-elected Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma on Wednesday said the constituency for him was like an “amanat” of the Gandhi family and he would ensure there is no “amanat mein khayanat (breach of trust)”.

Sharma, who emerged as a giant slayer by defeating sitting BJP MP and Union minister Smriti Irani by a margin of over 1.67 lakh votes, does not see his victory in terms of a “revenge” of the defeat inflicted on Gandhi by Irani in 2019 in the constituency.

“There is no revenge in politics. It is like sportsmanship, one has to win and the other loses. We don’t see things in terms of revenge and all,” Sharma told PTI in an interview here.

He said Gandhi has to decide which constituency he will represent in Lok Sabha though he would want the former Congress chief to keep the Rae Bareli seat.

Talking about his win from Amethi, Sharma said it is a victory of the people of Amethi and the Gandhi family.

Sharma said the Amethi constituency is the ‘amanat’ of the Gandhi family and he would ensure that there is no “amanat mein khayanat (breach of trust)”.

This time, Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha election from the Rae Bareli seat, while Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, was fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat to take on Irani. Sharma had been an MP representative for both Rae Bareli and Amethi, looking after the two Gandhi family bastions.

Gandhi won the Wayanad seat by a margin of more than 3.6 lakh votes and Rae Bareli by a margin of over 3.9 lakh votes.

Sharma said he handed over Gandhi’s certificate of election from Rae Bareli to him this morning.

“He then gave me the guidance that I have to perform well in Parliament. So I told him that I will learn from him as he is a senior MP, I am only a first-timer,” Sharma told PTI.

Asked if he gave any advice to Rahul Gandhi being his pointsman earlier on the Rae Bareli constituency on which seat he should represent, Sharma said, “I did not give him any advice, it is not my stature to give him advice. It is up to Rahul Gandhi (to decide),” he said.

“Personally, I want him to keep Rae Bareli,” he added.

On the BJP’s jibes against him during the polls calling him Gandhi family’s “peon” and “clerk”, Sharma said Rahul Gandhi had given an answer to that in the press conference on Tuesday and he would not like to comment on the matter now.

“Rahul ji has answered all this, he is my leader and has replied on it. I don’t want to comment on it,” Sharma said.

Asked about the BJP’s jibes at Sharma, Gandhi had said, “BJP does not talk respectfully. Kishori Lal Sharma had been working in Amethi for last 40 years. Probably the BJP people did not understand that Kishori Lal Sarma was closely connected with Amethi and therefore his victory was certain.”

On his role in the party going forward, Sharma said the high command will decide his role and whatever the party decides, he will abide by that.

“I never thought about any role in the last 40 years so what would I think now. Whatever the party decides, whichever role the party will give me, is acceptable to me,” he said.

Talking about the margin of his victory in the hard-fought election, Sharma said he was not thinking in terms of victory and defeat but had the belief that his workers were ready.

“It was about the margin, we were thinking of a margin between 1.25 lakh and 1.5 lakh. I have worked for 40 years so I can read the mood of the workers. When we used to do public meetings, people used to listen to it and I got the belief that we will do it (emerge victorious) and it was done,” he said.

On the Congress’s strong showing, Sharma said the party had done well and will do well even better in the future.

Earlier in the day, Sharma said it was Priyanka Gandhi’s decision not to fight the election even though he wanted her to contest.

“It is my wish to see Priyanka Gandhi in the House…from anywhere, if I am asked, I can also leave the seat. Seat is not important but Gandhi family is.”

Amethi has long been synonymous with the Gandhis but it was the first time in 25 years that a Gandhi family member did not contest election from the Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress fortress was breached in the last general election in 2019 when Irani beat Rahul Gandhi by more than 55,000 votes. Sharma has won back the fortress with a resounding mandate, proving many naysayers wrong.