Pandit Sukh Ram (born Sukhram Sharma; 27 July 1927 – 11 May 2022) was an Indian politician who served as the Minister of Communications and Information Technology from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

from the Mandi constituency of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. He won the

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

elections five times and the Lok Sabha elections three times. He is the father of politician Anil Sharma and grandfather of actor

Aayush Sharma Aayush Sharma (born 26 October 1990) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He made his film debut with brother-in-law Salman Khan's production ''Loveyatri'' (2018). His film '' Antim: The Final Truth'' (2021) was critically and commercia ...

. In 2011 he was sentenced to 5 years in jail for corruption when he was Communications Minister in 1996.

Early life

Sukhram Sharma was born on 27 July 1927 in a poor family of 10 children in

Kotli Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of ...

. He attended the Delhi Law School and practised as a lawyer at the Mandi District law courts in 1953. In 1962, he became a Member of the Territorial Council in Himachal Pradesh.

Political career

Ram represented the Mandi Assembly seat from 1963 to 1984. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 and served as a junior minister in the

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

government. He served as minister of state for defence production and supplies, planning and food and civil supplies. Sukh Ram was the

Union minister of state The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

(independent charge) holding the communications portfolio from 1993 to 1996. While Ram represented the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, his son contested and won the Assembly seat in 1993. Ram won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in 1996, but the two were expelled from the Congress party after the telecom scam. They formed the

Himachal Vikas Congress Himachal Vikas Congress (''Himalayan Development Congress''), was a regional political party in Himachal Pradesh, India. Formation Himachal Vikas Congress was formed when Sukh Ram and Anil Sharma split from the Indian National Congress after ...

, entered into a post-poll alliance with the BJP and joined the government. Ram contested the Assembly Elections in 1998 from Mandi Sadar and won by a huge margin of 22000+ votes; that was highest in the State. His son Anil Sharma was elected to the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in 1998. In the 2003 Assembly poll, Ram retained the Mandi Assembly seat but joined the Congress in the run-up to the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Sharma won the Mandi Assembly seat in 2007 and 2012 as a Congress candidate. In 2017, prior to elections, Ram joined BJP along with Sharma and grandson Aashray Sharma. It is considered as impact of Ram that BJP won 9 out of 10 seats in Mandi District and one seat i.e. Joginder Nagar was won by an independent candidate. Sharma was the Power Minister in the state of Himachal Pradesh under BJP regime. The family has a significant influence among the Himachal's brahmins, who comprise nearly 20%, or a fifth, of the state's electorate (the second-highest for any state in India, next to

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

). His other grandson

is an actor and married superstar

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

's sister. Ram crossed over to

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

in 2017 before reverting to the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

in 2019.

Jail

In 1996 he was Communications Minister during a major telecom scam. In 2011 he was sentenced to 5 years in jail for corruption in this scam.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Sukh 1927 births 2022 deaths Indian National Congress politicians People from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh Indian politicians convicted of crimes Indian prisoners and detainees Lok Sabha members from Himachal Pradesh India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 Crime in Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Himachal Pradesh Himachal Vikas Congress politicians Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1963–1967 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1967–1972 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1972–1977 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1977–1982 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1982–1985

Early life

Political career

Jail

See also

References