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	==See also==		==See also==
	~~{{Portal\|India\|Politics}}~~
	*[[List of scandals in India]]		*[[List of scandals in India]]
	*[[Licence Raj]]		*[[Licence Raj]]

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{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sukh Ram
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1927|07|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Kotli, Himachal Pradesh|Mandi]], [[British Punjab]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
|otherparty = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]](2017-2019)
| constituency1 = [[Mandi (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mandi, Himachal Pradesh]]
| predecessor1 = [[Virbhadra Singh]]
| successor1 = [[Maheshwar Singh]]
| term_start1 = {{Start date|1984||}}
| term_end1 = {{End date|1989||}}
| office = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| constituency = [[Mandi (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mandi, Himachal Pradesh]]

| predecessor = [[Maheshwar Singh]]
| successor = [[Maheshwar Singh]]
| term_start = {{Start date|1989||}}
| term_end = {{End date|1998||}}
| office2 = [[Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India)|Minister of Communications and Information Technology]]
| primeminister2 = [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
| term_start2 = {{Start date|1993||}}
| term_end2 = {{End date|1996||}}
| predecessor2 = [[Rajesh Pilot]]
| successor2 = [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| spouse=
| children=Anil Sharma, a former Cabinet Minister in [[Virbhadra Singh]] Government (2012-17), now in the [[BJP]]
| alma_mater = [[Delhi Law School]]
| residence=[[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh|Mandi]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[India]]
}}

'''Pandit Sukh Ram''' (born 27 July 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the [[Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India)|Minister of Communications and Information Technology]] from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of [[Lok Sabha]] from the [[Mandi (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mandi constituency]] of [[Himachal Pradesh]]. He won the [[Vidhan Sabha]] elections five times and the Lok Sabha elections three times.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

==Early life==
Sukh Ram was born on 27 July 1927<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/sukhram-a-wily-politician-turned-kingmaker/story-UHgginqeL4jTHSolnmQzrO.html|title=Sukhram: A wily politician turned Kingmaker|date=13 February 2003|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=16 April 2018|language=en}}</ref> in a poor family of 10 children in [[Kotli, Himachal Pradesh|Kotli]], [[Himachal Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-man-from-mandi/202040|title=The Man From Mandi|date=4 September 1996|work=Outlook India|access-date=16 April 2018}}</ref>

He attended the Delhi Law School and practised as a lawyer at the Mandi District law courts in 1953. In 1962 he became a Member of the Territorial Council in Himachal Pradesh.

==Political career==
He represented the Mandi Assembly seat from 1963 to 1984. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 and served as a junior minister in the [[Rajiv Gandhi]] government. He served as minister of state for defence production and supplies, planning and food and civil supplies. Sukh Ram was the [[Union Council of Ministers|Union minister of state]] (independent charge) holding the communications portfolio from 1993 to 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dot.gov.in/about-us/former-ministers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002203226/http://www.dot.gov.in/about-us/former-ministers|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-10-02|title=About Us {{!}} Former Ministers {{!}} Department of Telecommunications|date=2013-10-02|access-date=2019-04-07}}</ref>

While Sukh Ram represented the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, his son contested and won the Assembly seat in 1993. Sukh Ram won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in 1996, but the two were expelled from the Congress party after the telecom scam. They formed the [[Himachal Vikas Congress]], entered into a post-poll alliance with the BJP and joined the government.

Sukh Ram contested the Assembly Elections in 1998 from Mandi Sadar and won by a huge margin of 22000+ votes; that was highest in the State. His son Anil Sharma was elected to the [[Rajya Sabha]] in 1998. In the 2003 Assembly poll, Sukh Ram retained the Mandi Assembly seat but joined the Congress in the run-up to the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Anil Sharma won the Mandi Assembly seat in 2007 and 2012 as a Congress candidate. In 2017, prior to elections, Sukh Ram joined BJP along with his son Anil Sharma and Grandson Aashray Sharma.
It is considered as impact of Sukh Ram that BJP won 9 out of 10 seats in DISTRICT Mandi and one seat i.e. Joginder Nagar was won by an independent candidate. His son Anil is now Power Minister in the state of Himachal Pradesh under BJP regime.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}
The family has a significant influence among the Himachal's Brahmins, who comprise nearly 20 per cent, or a fifth, of the state's electorate (the second-highest for any state in India, next to [[Uttarakhand]]).
His another grandson is married to Salman Khan's sister.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Sukhram crossed over to [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] in 2017<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/sukh-ram-and-sons-cross-over-to-bjp/articleshow/61085523.cms|title=Sukh Ram and sons cross over to BJP - Times of India|last=Bodhi|first=Anand|date=15 October 2017|work=The Times of India|access-date=16 April 2018}}</ref> before reverting to the Congress in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/back-in-hp-congress-sukhram-buries-decades-long-feud-with-virbhadra-singh-cements-ties-with-hug-2082215.html|title=Back in HP Congress, Sukhram Buries Decades-long Feud with Virbhadra Singh, Cements Ties with Hug|website=News18|access-date=2019-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/former-union-minister-sukh-ram-grandson-aashray-sharma-join-congress/article26633428.ece|title=Former Union Minister Sukh Ram, grandson Aashray Sharma join Congress|date=2019-03-25|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-04-07|others=PTI|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/party-hoppers-before-lok-sabha-polls-119040700015_1.html|title=Party hoppers before Lok Sabha polls|last=IANS|date=2019-04-07|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2019-04-07}}</ref>

.

==See also==
{{Portal|India|Politics}}
*[[List of scandals in India]]
*[[Licence Raj]]
*[[Mafia Raj]]
*[[Lokayukta|Lok Ayukta]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Energy Ministries and Departments of India}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Sukh}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:People from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:8th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:10th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:11th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Crime in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Himachal Vikas Congress politicians]]

Sukh Ram - Revision history

2famrtf at 18:00, 15 October 2025

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

->Davemck: rmv duplicate parm

imported>Jaywardhan009: added Category:Himachal Vikas Congress politicians using HotCat