The Congress’s third list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls had big names such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, but its Jaipur pick has made the most headlines. Sunil Sharma, the party’s choice for the key seat, has emerged as a talking point for the past two days over his alleged links with a platform, ‘The Jaipur Dialogues’, known to mock the Congress party and its leaders.
The Clarification
Mr Sharma has issued a statement, saying that while he has attended some panel discussions hosted by Jaipur Dialogues, he has no link with its management.
I am in no way related to the Jaipur dialogues YouTube channel or Twitter handle. This is completely fake news and false propaganda being floated to diminish the prospects of the Congress Party.
— Sunil Sharma (@I_SunilSharma) March 23, 2024
“I was never associated with the management of Jaipur Dialogues YouTube channel. I am often invited by TV channels and YouTube platforms as a panelist to articulate the Congress perspective. In the same way, The Jaipur Dialogues invited me to speak on social issues and elaborate the Congress vision. There I strongly opposed religious bigotry,” he said in a statement in Hindi, posted on X.
Social media users have also shared screenshots of Jaipur Dialogues Forum company profile that name one Sunil Sharma as director. The Congress candidate has said in his clarification that he parted ways with the company long back and rumours are now being spread with vested interests.
He has also claimed that the Jaipur Dialogues Forum company has no link with those managing the YouTube profile, The Jaipur Dialogues.
But the addresses on the Jaipur Dialogues website and the company profile are the same. And the website leads to the Youtube page. In effect, Mr Sharma seems to claim that he was associated with the company, but not with its social media handles.
A Tale Of Two Sunil Sharmas
Mr Sharma has said in his statement that he has attended panel discussions hosted by The Jaipur Dialogues. Interestingly, the list of speakers for such as event organised in November features Sunil Sharma. But while the photo is of the Congress leader, the description says he is “currently serving as the UT (Union Territory) General Secretary, Incharge of the Kashmir Division, and Doda Ramban”. Now there is a BJP leader and former minister in Jammu and Kashmir, also called Sunil Sharma, who now holds the BJP post mentioned next to the photo of the Congress leader.
Shashi Tharoor’s “Pauline Epiphany” Jab
Amid the befuddlement over the Congress pick, party leader and its Thiruvananthapuram candidate Shashi Tharoor has flagged posts by the Jaipur Dialogues handle targeting him. Wondering how the man, allegedly linked to the platform, has ended up on the Congress candidates list, Mr Tharoor posted, “He must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar!”
He must have undergone some sort of Pauline epiphany on the road to 24 Akbar! This is just one of several dozen tweets from his handle attacking me:https://t.co/mJy9ZyBWG0 https://t.co/3DjWW8dtbq
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 23, 2024
While 24 Akbar Road is the address of the Congress headquarters, “Pauline Epiphany” seems to refer to the New Testament event that led Paul The Apostle to stop persecuting Christians and become a follower of Jesus.