Politics of dishonesty begins when leaders switch parties: Ex-Himachal CM

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar Saturday criticised Shatrughan Sinha's decision to join the Congress and called switching parties "politics of dishonesty". Apart from Sinha, who joined the Congress earlier in the day, Kumar also hit out at former chief minister Sukh Ram for joining the grand old party. He demanded that Ram's son, Anil Sharma, should resign as a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government.

Saying he was hurt by Sinha joining the Congress, Kumar said: "I have been personally attached to Shatrughan Sinha's family since the late eighties. I asked Shatru and his wife, Poonam, several times not to leave the BJP." "The politics of dishonesty begins when the leaders switch parties. The trend of switching parties is deeply damaging politics," the BJP leader said.

Kumar said he was against such politics where people shift parties to suit their motives. He said "aaya Ram gaya Ram" was the main feature of Haryana politics, alleging that Ram had defamed Himachal by switching parties five times.

"Sukh Ram's son has to leave the ministerial chair he is occupying in Himachal. His grandson (Aashray Sharma) will be defeated in the Mandi seat. Only then, Sukh Ram will realise what he has lost at the fag end of his life," Kumar told reporters here. Asked about denying tickets to old stalwarts of the BJP, Kumar said when the party decided that the old leaders would not be allowed to contest election, it must be endorsed by everyone in the party.

"I have played a long innings in politics and now I am a writer first then a politician. And, as a writer, I must say that age should not be considered the eligibility criteria in any field." He said the young leaders working against of any party were the real elderly people. PTI CORR HMB ASH

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