Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 result: Anil Sharma, father of Salman Khan’s brother-in-law, wins Mandi

Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 | Mandi seat: Sitting BJP MLA Anil Sharma retained his Mandi seat, bagging 30,204 from a total 56,552 votes. Sharma, who is a 4-time MLA, defeated Congress’ Champa Thakur (20,424) by a margin of 9780 votes. Independent candidate Praveen Kumar came third with 4040 votes.

Sharma is the father of actor Ayush Sharma, who is married to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s sister Arpita. Sharma won the Mandi seat for the first time in 1993 on a Congress ticket. He won twice more as a Congress candidate in 2007 and 2012 before switching to the BJP for his 2017 Assembly Elections win.

Sharma is the son of former Minister for Communications and IT Pandit Sukh Ram. He has also held minister of state portfolios in the past. He joined the BJP ahead of the 2017 elections with his father and elder son Aashray Sharma, who is also a politician. Under Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur, Anil Sharma was Minister of Multi Purpose Projects, Power, Non Conventional Energy Sources from 2017 to 2019.

Meanwhile, the hill state appears to be slipping away from the BJP with Congress poised to come back with a majority in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022. Congress is leading on 40 seats of the 68-member assembly while BJP is leading on 25 seats. Independent candidates are poised to win three seats, including BJP rebels. 

READ | Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 result: Rivaba Jadeja, Ravindra Jadeja’s wife, excels on poll debut