Ashwani Kumar Sharma

Ashwani Sharma (born 23 January 1964) is an Indian politician and the former Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Punjab president. He is a member of Punjab Legislative Assembly and currently representing Pathankot Assembly constituency.

Ashwani Sharma
Member of Legislative Assembly, Punjab (India)
Assumed office
10 March 2022
Preceded byAmit Vij
ConstituencyPathankot
In office
2012–2017
Preceded byMaster Mohan Lal
Succeeded byAmit Vij
ConstituencyPathankot
President of Bhartiya Janta Party, Punjab
In office
17 January 2020 - 4 July 2023
Preceded byShwait Malik
Succeeded bySunil Jakhar
In office
4 February 2010 – 16 January 2013
Preceded byRajinder Bhandari
Succeeded byKamal Sharma
Personal details
Born (1964-01-23) 23 January 1964 (age 60)
Pathankot, Punjab, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Children1 Son

Early life

Sharma was born in a lower-middle-class Punjabi Hindu family on 23 January 1964. His family had migrated to Gurdaspur from Sialkot after partition.[1][citation needed]

Ashwani Kumar Sharma did his early schooling from Vivekananda Model High School, Pathankot and went to do his graduation from Guru Nanak Dev University in Bachelor of Arts.[citation needed]

Politics

Sharma was involved with RSS. During his college days in Pathankot, he was a member of ABVP.[2] After a successful term he was appointed General Secretary BJP Punjab from 2007 to 2010. Meanwhile, he became Chairman of District Planning Board Gurdaspur. He was made State President in 2010.[3][4]

He was made the President B.J.Y.M. (Pb) in 2004. After a successful term he was appointed General Secretary BJP Punjab from 2007 to 2010.

MLA

He became Chairman of District Planning Board Gurdaspur. He was elected as BJP Punjab State President in 2010. Under his leadership party performed exceptionally well in 2012 legislative elections by winning all the Vidhan Sabha seats for BJP in Dist. Pathankot and contributed in building SAD-BJP alliance and was able to repeat the coalition government in Punjab after 43 years and also became member of legislative assembly in 2012.

He was elected as MLA in 2022. The Aam Aadmi Party gained a strong 79% majority in the sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly by winning 92 out of 117 seats in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. MP Bhagwant Mann was sworn in as Chief Minister on 16 March 2022.[5]

Electoral performance

Punjab Assembly election, 2012: Pathankot[6][7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
BJPAshwani Kumar Sharma 42,218 44.56 2.26
INCRaman Bhalla24,36225.71 8.33
IndependentAshok Sharma23,71325.03
Majority17,85618.85 10.59
Turnout94,74272.66 0.87
BJP hold
Punjab Assembly election, 2017: Pathankot[8][9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
INCAmit Vij 56,383 50.86 25.15
BJPAshwani Kumar Sharma45,21340.79 3.77
AAPRaj Kumar6,0365.45New
NOTANone of the above9070.82
Majority11,17010.08 8.77
Turnout110,85376.13 3.47
Registered electors145,604[10]
INC gain from BJP
Punjab Assembly election, 2022: Pathankot
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
BJPAshwani Kumar Sharma 43,132 38.01 2.78
INCAmit Vij35,37331.17 19.69
AAPVibhuti Sharma31,45127.72 22.27
NOTANone of the above6660.59 0.23
Majority7,7596.84 3.24
Turnout113,48074.40 1.73
Registered electors152,519[11] 4.53
BJP gain from INC

References