No more the messiah of communication revolution and Chanakya of politics “Pandit Sukhram”
Former Union Minister of State for Communications, Pandit Sukh Ram, who was called the Messiah of the communication revolution and Chanakya of Himachal Pradesh politics, has passed away. He breathed his last at around 1.30 pm last night at AIIMS, Delhi.
It is being told that last night he had a heart attack again, due to which he died. Earlier on the night of 9 May, he was put on the life sport system due to a heart attack. He died of a heart attack again last night. His grandson Ashray Sharma has informed about the death of his grandfather through social media. He has written, “Bye bye Dada ji, now the telephone bell will not ring”.
According to the information received from the family, today the body of Pandit Sukhram will be brought from Delhi to Mandi. It is being told that in Mandi Sadar including Salapad, Sundernagar, Nachan and Balh, a large number of people will throng the streets to pay homage to Pandit Sukh Ram. Tomorrow at 11 am, the body of Pandit Sukhram will be kept on the historic Seri platform of Mandi city for the last rites, after which he will be cremated with full state honors at the cremation ground at Hanumanghat. A large number of leaders are expected to attend the funeral of Pandit Sukhram.
Born on 27 July 1927, Pandit Sukh Ram held the Telecom Ministry as a Union Minister from 1993 to 1996. Represented Mandi parliamentary constituency from 1963 to 1984. Before the 1998 assembly elections, Pandit Sukh Ram announced the formation of Himachal Vikas Congress. The party got 5 seats. Due to lack of clear majority for BJP and Congress, Pandit Sukhram came in the role of King Maker. With the support of Pandit Sukh Ram, the Dhumal government came to power. An independent MLA also played an important role in this government.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP left the Shimla parliamentary seat for Panditji’s party. Colonel Dhaniram Shandil succeeded in winning the election. In 1984, he also served as a junior minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. In 1998, the assembly election from Mandi Sadar was won by a margin of 22 thousand votes, which was the biggest margin of victory in Himachal at that time. In 2017, Pandit Sukh Ram had joined BJP along with son Anil Sharma and grandson.
Son Anil Sharma, who won from Sadar in the assembly elections, was also made a cabinet minister by the BJP government. Meanwhile, grandson Aashray Sharma took the membership of Congress and contested from Mandi parliamentary seat. In the changed political developments, Anil Sharma had to lose the ministerial post in the BJP government. In 2017, Pandit Sukh Ram’s joining BJP had such an effect that in the assembly elections, the BJP had won 9 out of 10 seats in Mandi.
