Former Telecom Minister Pt Sukh Ram , a Congress stalwart ,who suffered “brain-stroke” on Saturday was airlifted to AIIMS New Delhi this morning .His condition is reported to be stable ,say his family sources .
But that was not before Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur offered his official chopper to shift ailing Congress leader to AIIMS for emergency medical help at New Delhi.
The Chief Minister was scheduled to fly to Banjar in Kullu district but he made a stopover to inquire about Pt Sukh Ram health at Mandi.
Thakur decided to travel to Banjar by road and instead send a helicopter to Delhi carrying the former Telecom minister to AIIMS at 11.30 am.
Former Union Minister Pandit Sukh Ram being airlifted by chopper to AIIMS Delhi from Mandi after he suffered a brain stroke pic.twitter.com/yRBregOLZ1
— INDIA NARRATIVE (@india_narrative) May 7, 2022
“ It was a great gesture on the part of Chief Minister ,who volunteered to offer an emergency help to my father ,whose condition is stable at AIIMS ,New Delhi .I really thank him for this” said Anil Sharma , son of Pt Sukh Ram ,who also been earlier a cabinet minister in the Jai Ram Thakur government .
Prior to that Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh also spoke to the union health secretary and sought his help to make arrangements for Pt Sukh Ram's admission at AIIMS,New Delhi.
Anil Sharma had quit the cabinet post when his son Ashray Sharma abruptly joined the Congress ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls at the behest of his grand-father Pt Sukh Ram . Ashray Sharma contested the Lok Sabha polls against the BJP candidate Ram Swaroop Sharma but lost badly.
Pt Sukh Ram had played a key role in the formation of the BJP- led coalition government under Prem Kumar Dhumal in 1998. This was the first BJP government in Himachal Pradesh that lasted its full term
But ,after this ,Sukh Ram ,who had formed Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) had returned back to the Congress to support Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh in the Lok Sabha poll at Mandi.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was BJP in-charge for Himachal Pradesh when he cobbled a post-poll tie–up with Pt Sukh Ram to see the formation of the BJP government.
In 2017, before state assembly polls, Anil Sharma –who was a congress minister, had quit the party and joined the BJP, also got elected and got inducted as power minister in the Jai Ram Thakur cabinet.
Earlier Jai Ram Thakur had also provided a government helicopter to former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for his return to Shimla from Chandigarh where he was admitted after being tested Covid positive in 2021.
Virbhadra Singh, a six-time Chief Minister, died in July 2021.
Also Read: Will sympathy for late Virbhadra Singh lift Congress in Himachal Poll?
