Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with Karnal MP Arvind Sharma on way to Parliament on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

Chandigarh, July 22
Had there been an award for political flip-flop, Congress MP from Karnal Arvind Sharma would certainly have been among the top contenders for it.

Sharma was again back in the Congress fold today after he had met BSP supremo Mayawati last night and declared that he would vote against the confidence motion as he was against the nuclear deal.

In a reminder of why Haryana had come to be known as the state of “Aaya Rams, Gaya Rams” in the late sixties, Sharma had first jolted the Congress on July 18, when he criticised the Centre for misusing the CBI to persecute Mayawati.

The infamous term was coined by the then Union Home Minister Y.B. Chavan after a Haryana MLA Gaya Ram changed sides a number of times within a short span.

After the damage control exercise launched by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Sharma met AICC president Sonia Gandhi on July 20. However, he did not attend the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the same evening.

Last night Sharma’s meeting with Mayawati gave jitters to crisis managers of the Congress.

Today Sharma surprised everyone when he reached Parliament along with a beaming Hooda. The maverick MP told newsmen that the Congress was his mother; he could never go against it.

Admitting that he had met Mayawati last night, Sharma said he had respect for the UP Chief Minister but he had always been with his party. He said he had criticised the UPA government not the Congress. It is not known what brought about a change in Sharma’s heart, whether certain promises or some arm-twisting.