Harmohan Dhawan’s son joins BJP
Chandigarh, May 20
In a boost for BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon, former Union minister late Harmohan Dhawan’s son Bikram Dhawan and president of Haryana Janchetna Party Venod Sharma today formally joined the BJP during UP CM Yogi’s rally in Maloya.
Bikram’s, who quit AAP to join the saffron party, is a blow to INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tewari. He was part of the padyatra organised at the time of filing of nomination papers by Tewari.
He had earlier organised a major public meeting at his Sector 9 house in support of the congress candidate. “There were several internal issues in the party, due to which I have left AAP. Besides, I wanted to stand with the candidate who is actually going to work on the city’s issues,” he told Chandigarh Tribune.
For the past few days, he was in touch with the BJP leaders. Knowing that he had made his mind to shift to the BJP, senior leaders of the Congress and AAP said to have met Bikram at his residence last night. Earlier, Dhawan’s aides Dr Sheenu Aggarwal and Sushil Aggarwal had joined the saffron party.
Bikram was senior vice-president in the now-defunct AAP’s Chandigarh unit. “My father brought the GMCH-32 to Chandigarh. Besides, he got ownership rights for residents of various colonies,” he said Bikram at the rally.
Harmohan Dhawan had left the BJP to join AAP in 2018. He then unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from Chandigarh and lost his security deposit. The AAP had got 3.2% votes, the BJP 50.64% and the Congress was polled 40.35% votes in the previous election.
A resident of Sector 9, Harmohan Dhawan had been a popular face in the villages and colonies of the city. In 1989, he had won the city LS seat on the Janta Party ticket and was made the Minister of Civil Aviation in PM Chandra Shekhar’s Cabinet. Venod Sharma, a former Union minister and his MP son Kartikeya Sharma announced their support to the saffron party. He joined the party today. Sharma is a former Congress man. His son won the 2022 Rajya Sabha elections as an Independent. Venod Sharma’s wife Shakti Rani Sharma is Mayor of the Ambala MC. “Sharma’s decision to join the BJP would strengthen Tandon’s position, leveraging the former’s considerable support base in Chandigarh and the Haryana region,” said a BJP leader. Sharma has held various positions in both the Central and Haryana governments. He served as a Cabinet minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s government and was a Rajya Sabha MP. Sharma has held key roles in the party and won the 2005 and 2009 Haryana Assembly elections from Ambala City.
