Govind Ram Sharma

Govind Ram Sharma

Pandit Govind Ram Sharma was an Indian politician who served as a Minister in Jammu and Kashmir. He was born into a Brahmin family on 17 August 1930 in village Maira Mandrian situated in Akhnoor. He had a long political career spanning over seven decades.

Political career

His political career began in 1951 as a Panchayat member. Over the decades, he played an active role in state politics and was elected as an MLA from the Akhnoor Assembly constituency twice, in 1987 and 1996.

WORKERS MEETING AT AKHNOOR.

He twice contested assembly elections independently in 1977 and 1987, winning the latter against the NC and INC accord and won with 19,642 votes from Akhnoor constituency. He also contested assembly election in 1983, giving close fight to INC in Akhnoor on mandate of JKNC.

In 1996 he won Akhnoor assembly constituency on mandate of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference.  He served as the Minister of State for Health and Public Health Engineering (PHE) from 1996 to 2002 under the Farooq Abdullah-led government.

Govind Ram Sharma contested his last election in year 2008 as a BJP candidate. He played a vital role in 2014 election, where he was instrumental in ensuring the BJP’s victory in Akhnoor constituency. Pandit Govind Ram Sharma is the only MLA from the Akhnoor constituency to have secured a victory as an independent candidate. He passed away on April 22, 2024.