96-year-old Pandit Sukh Ram, a resident of Mandi town of Himachal Pradesh, who became famous abroad as the Minister of Communications, died on May 11. He remained active in politics till the end. Even though he had publicly retired from electoral politics a decade ago, handing over a legacy to his son Anil Sharma, he used to reach out to every election to seek votes for his loved ones. Even at the age of 95, he had not only issued an appeal to vote for the Congress party but also campaigned in the municipal elections in his city Mandi in April last year.
Since 1962, continuously active in politics, Pandit Sukhram, who contested and won the most elections, reached the threshold of the post of Chief Minister of the state many times, but perhaps he did not have the line to sit on this chair in his hand. On one occasion the dice kept rolling and this chair kept falling. In 1997, he rebelled against Congress and formed Himachal Vikas Congress and created panic in the entire state. In the assembly elections held in 1998, he also won five seats and made Prem Kumar Dhumal the Chief Minister by ousting Virbhadra Singh from power and supporting the minority BJP. He was such a face in the politics of Himachal, whom everyone knew. No one has any objection to the claim that Virbhadra Singh, who was the Chief Minister of the state for six times, had political fear only from Pandit Sukh Ram.
If the names of four or five big leaders Dr. YS Parmar, Virbhadra Singh, Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal are taken, then Pandit Sukh Ram will be seen standing in the front row. Now the question is arising that the work of making Mandi located in the middle of the state the pivot of the state’s politics has been done on the strength of Pandit Sukh Ram. The other big leaders from here are Thakur Kaul Singh and Rangeela Ram Rao but they have not been able to reach the stature of Sukh Ram.
Now the question is, who will fill this political vacuum of Sakhram? This void was filled only by his son Anil Sharma becoming an MLA or a minister, nor would his grandson, Aashray Sharma, in-charge of the media cell in the Pradesh Congress, enter politics. For this, a leader is needed who is not only acceptable in the politics of ten assembly constituencies of Mandi district, but can also keep his full identity in the state apart from 17 assembly seats in Mandi parliamentary constituency.
Thakur Kaul Singh has definitely been making efforts in this direction. He has also been the state president twice. He has been an MLA for eight times, but now after crossing the age of 75, perhaps he can establish himself like Pandit Sukh Ram. Rangeela Rama Rao is also the oldest leader of the district who has been in politics since 1972 but due to three consecutive defeats to Colonel Inder Singh and health reasons, he will not be able to replace Sukh Ram. In such a situation, the vacancy created by this Chanakya of politics in the politics of the state, hardly anyone can fill it.