Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Minister Anil Sharma, who has refused to campaign against his son-cum-Congress candidate Ashray Sharma, on Friday quit the cabinet, upset over remarks by CM Jai Ram Thakur. But Anil Sharma has not resigned either from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or from the state Assembly.
“Jai Ram Thakur gave some statements against me in my constituency on Thursday and I am upset. This morning I decided to quit from his cabinet and submitted my resignation to his office,” Sharma told reporters here. He clarified that he had not resigned from the Legislative Assembly. “I am still a member of the BJP but I will not campaign for any party candidate,” he added. “If the BJP desires, it can sack me from the party.”
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The friction between the CM and the Minister surfaced when the latter’s son Ashray Sharma left BJP and rejoined the Congress along with his grandfather Sukh Ram, a former Union Telecom Minister. Ashray Sharma is the Congress candidate from Mandi. He is pitted against BJP’s sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma. The Chief Minister on Thursday told his Power Minister that being a BJP member, “it’s his duty and responsibility to work for the party”.
