New Delhi: Ram Swaroop Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Himachal Pradesh was found dead at his Delhi residence on Wednesday. Prime facie, police suspect it to be a case of suicide but the real reason could be ascertained only after the post-mortem report.
Ram Swaroop Sharma, 62, was found hanging in his room. He was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
‘Took extreme step b/c of prolonged illness’
The news of BJP lawmaker’s death spread after his staffer informed the Delhi police. When the police officials reached the spot, they found him hanging and the door closed from inside. Police had to break open the door to recovered MP’s dead body.
According to a leading Hindi daily, the BJP lawmaker was suffering from illness for a long time. Prolonged illness pushed him into ‘depression’. He was a heart patient and had surgery for stent placement, 3 years ago. Despite the treatment, the MP couldn’t recover and his health kept on deteriorating over next few months. He had become very frail and when he appeared at a public event in Mandi on Mahashivratri, all of them were shocked beyond belief.
‘I am Modi’s ‘Sudama’, Mandi MP used to say
Ram Swaroop Sharma used to draw Lord Krishna-Sudama analogy for his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He used to describe himself as PM Modi’s ‘Sudama’. He used to say that for him, PM Modi was Lord Krishna and he was his Sudama.
In the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi returned the favour and described Ram Swaroop Sharma as ‘Sudama’, while addressing a huge public gathering in Mandi.
PM Modi held 2 public rallies for Ram Swaroop in his LS constituency Mandi. Even in 2019 elections, PM Modi addressed public rally in Mandi and sought votes for his re-election from the constituency.
In that poll rally, PM Modi revealed a secret and informed the gathering, “Ram Swaroop ji often brings sepu badees from Mandi whenever he comes to Delhi, as I am fond of it and like its taste.”
Sharma defeated wife of Virabhadra Singh, 6-time Himachal CM
Sharma was long associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Born at Jalpehar village in Mandi district on June 10, 1958, he was a two-time MP and was elected to the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha from Mandi parliamentary constituency in 2014 and 2019 respectively.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he defeated sitting Congress MP Pratibha Singh – wife of six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by a big margin.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sharma defeated Congress candidate Ashray Sharma, 32, the grandson of former Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram.
