Cong returns to RS from Himachal after 10 yrs as Anurag Sharma wins unopposed

Congress leader Anurag Sharma was on Monday declared elected to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh after he emerged the sole candidate in the fray for the state’s lone Upper House seat.

The announcement was made by the returning officer — the secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha — after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations passed with no other contenders remaining in the race. The seat was earlier held by BJP leader Indu Goswami.

Sharma’s election marks the Congress party’s return to the Rajya Sabha from the hill state after a gap of nearly a decade. The BJP had held the seat in 2018, 2020 and 2022. In a dramatic development in 2024, the BJP wrested the seat from the Congress despite the latter being in power in the state and enjoying a majority in the Assembly.

Sharma, who currently serves as president of the Kangra District Congress Committee, hails from Bir in the Baijnath area of Kangra district. He is also president of the Billing Paragliding Association, which oversees activities at the popular paragliding destination.

Born on 29 August 1978, Sharma has been associated with the Congress since the mid-1990s. He began his political career in student politics and earlier served as president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) at Baijnath Government College. He later went on to serve as the state general-secretary of the party’s youth wing between 1998 and 2001.

Speaking to reporters after being declared elected, Sharma thanked the Congress leadership and party workers for reposing faith in him. He expressed gratitude to the party high command, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, ministers, legislators and Congress workers, and said he would work to fulfil the expectations of the people of Himachal Pradesh.

Earlier, Sharma had described receiving the Congress nomination for the Rajya Sabha as a “dream come true” for a grassroots party worker. He said he intended to raise issues concerning the state in Parliament, including the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) to Himachal Pradesh.

Sharma is widely seen as being close to chief minister Sukhu. His nomination has also been viewed within the party as a move to balance regional representation, particularly in Kangra district — the state’s largest — where the Congress won 10 of the 15 Assembly seats in the last election but secured only two berths in the state cabinet.

With PTI inputs