Shimla, March 5 Upset over the Congress's decision to nominate its Kangra district unit chief, Anurag Sharma, for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, party leader Anand Sharma said on Thursday that "telling the truth has become a punishable political crime".
Anand Sharma, a former Union minister who held several key positions in the party and at the Centre during his long political career, was reportedly among those considered for the nomination.
Congress sources had earlier said that besides Anand Sharma, the names of former state unit chief Pratibha Singh (wife of late former chief minister Virbhadra Singh), the party's in-charge for the state, Rajni Patil, Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, ex-education minister Asha Kumari, CM's IT advisor Gokul Butail, and spokesperson Pawan Khera were among the strong contenders.
However, on Thursday, the Congress surprised everyone by nominating Anurag Sharma as the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh. He is considered close to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Speaking to the
