Giant slayer Kishori Lal Sharma gets rousing welcome in hometown Ludhiana

Manav Mander

Ludhiana, June 17

Kishori Lal Sharma came to the limelight after defeating the BJP’s big shot Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. After becoming an MP, Sharma has arrived in his hometown Ludhiana. He got a rousing welcome and it was a busy day for him today. He had been on the go since he arrived here.

Journey from Ludhiana to Amethi

• Kishori Lal Sharma is associated with the Congress since his college days. After graduating from Arya College, Ludhiana, he went to Delhi and joined a programme launched by Rajiv Gandhi for fresh graduates believing in the ideology of the Congress
• A few youngsters were handpicked and sent to different parts of the country to monitor the 20-point programme of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
• After working for few months in Madhya Pradesh, he joined a camp in 1983 and a team of 10 was set up and Kishori Lal was one of them. He was given the responsibility of Amethi at the age of 22 and made in-charge of one-and-a-half blocks

After the announcement of his name as the candidate from Amethi, his wife Kiran along with their two daughters, Divya and Anjali, were in Amethi by his side and it was on Sunday that the family came back after winning the seat.

Sharma first went to Amethi in 1983 and there has been no looking back since then. From the past 40 years, he had been living in Amethi and he comes to Ludhiana for only 4-5 days in a month and the same tradition will continue now as well. Kishori came to Ludhiana on June 16 and will be going back to Amethi on June 19.

“My family lives in Ludhiana but my extended family lives in Amethi. It is where I belong to and my identity is because of Amethi. My victory is the victory of Amethi people. I spend most of my time in Amethi and it is only for 4-5 days in a month that I come back to meet my family,” he said at his residence located at New Shivaji Nagar.

While he is in Amethi, it is his wife who keeps the strings of both family and business intact. The family has an automobiles dealership and petrol pumps in the city. “Now that elections are over, my family will stay back in Ludhiana at home as usual while I will fly back to Amethi on June 19,” he said.

Both Divya and Anjali are elated to be back home. “We were with our father all through the elections. Although he was busy with his party workers, we always had our lunch together. These are the simple pleasures of life we crave always crave for,” said the duo.

From being a Congress poll manager of Amethi to Member Parliament from Amethi, life certainly has taken a U-turn for Kishori Lal Sharma. But what has not changed is his humbleness and kindness and he continues to welcome his neighbours, relatives and near and dear ones with a smile and folded hands.