Thousands bid farewell to former Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma

Ferozepur

Thousands of mourners descended on the city’s cremation ground to bid farewell to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kamal Sharma, who died of a cardiac arrest on Sunday at the age of 49.

Sharma’s body was kept at a community centre in Preet Nagar for his supporters to pay their respects. His son Sushmit Sharma finally lit the funeral pyre as slogans of “Kamal Sharma Amar Rahe” sounded in the background.

Among those who came to pay their respects to Sharma—a former chief of BJP’s Punjab unit—were Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Ministers Som Prakash and Dharmendra Pradhan, as well as several leaders of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Also in attendance were Punjab’s current BJP president Shwet Malik, former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh, former union minister Vijay Sampla, senior BJP leaders Avinash Rai Khanna, Tarun Chugh, Rajendra Bhandari, Manoranjan Kalia, Tikshan Sud, Anil Joshi, Ashwani Sharma, Surjit Jiyani, and Rakesh Rathore. Late BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s daughter Sonali was also present.

An emotional Khattar, who was sworn into the position of chief minister for the second time only hours after Sharma died on Sunday, called Sharma’s death “a huge loss to the party”, and to him personally because of his longtime association with the leader.

“He had recently done canvassing for the party during the assembly elections in Haryana and was actively involved in the affairs of the BJP in this region,” Khattar said.

Som Parkash said he had known Sharma since his early days in politics. “For me, he was a friend, philosopher and guide,” the minister said.

Sharma, who had come to Ferozepur to celebrate Diwali, collapsed while on his morning walk in the cantonment area. He had posted Diwali greetings on Facebook just that morning.

Ankit Sharma, an aide who was with him, took him to a private hosiptal, which declared him “brought dead”. Sharma, who is believed to have been close to former finance minister Arun Jaitley, had previously had a heart attack two years ago. He left behind his wife, Shashi, his son Sushmit and daughter Shupra.