Congress fields Anil Sharma for Assembly bypoll to Sardarshahar

The bypoll was necessitated by MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma’s death, as the seat fell vacant a year before the 2023 State Assembly election

The Congress on Wednesday, fielded party leader and Rajasthan State Economically Backward Classes Board’s chairman Anil Sharma as its candidate for the Assembly by-election to Churu district’s Sardarshahar constituency. Mr. Sharma is the son of veteran Congress leader and former Sardarshahar MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who died on October 9 this year.

The bypoll in Sardarshahar was necessitated by Mr. Bhanwar Lal Sharma’s death, as the seat fell vacant a year before the 2023 State Assembly election. The Central Election Committee of Congress announced Mr. Sharma’s candidature for Sardarshahar in New Delhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded Ashok Pincha, who had lost to Mr. Sharma in the 2018 State Assembly election, as the candidate for the bypoll. Mr. Pincha, who had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since the beginning of his political career, filed his nomination papers on Wednesday.

The polling is scheduled to take place on December 5 and the counting of votes will be done on December 8. The ruling party has played a “sympathy card” in Sardarshahar by fielding the son of the late MLA on the lines of a similar decision for fielding the family members at Sujangarh, Sahara and Vallabhnagar, which went to bypolls during the present Congress regime. The party registered victory in all the three seats.