BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma was found dead at his Delhi residence on Wednesday in a suspected case of suicide. According to his friends and family, he had been fighting severe depression for six months.
BJP Ram Swaroop Sharma was found dead at his home in Delhi on Wednesday in a suspected case of suicide. Pictured here, he got his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Mandi on March 13. (Photo: Twitter)
Ram Swaroop Sharma, BJP Member of Parliament from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, was found dead at his residence in Delhi on Wednesday in a suspected case of suicide. He had been fighting severe depression for the last six months, sources from his family told India Today TV.
The 62-year-old parliamentarian was found hanging from a ceiling fan when a team from the Delhi Police broke open his bedroom door. Many medicines were found in the room. He was alone in the house as his wife was on a pilgrimage and his security officer was in Mandi.
Sharma had skipped the Parliament session on Tuesday. He had also stopped using his Twitter account two days ago. Although he was not very active on the micro-blogging website, he regularly used to retweet Prime Minister Modi’s tweets.
He last retweeted two of PM Modi’s tweets on March 14, including one about the Prime Minister’s radio programme Mann Ki Baat. He had also used Twitter to share photographs of himself getting inoculated against Covid-19 on March 13 and of the International Shivratri Festival he attended in his hometown Mandi on March 12.
-19 -19 l pic.twitter.com/xKNqzow5Uv
— Ram Swaroop Sharma (@bjpramswaroop) March 13, 2021
Members of Sharma’s family have said that he was suffering from high blood pressure and abnormal blood sugar levels. He had survived a couple of heart attacks in the past. Following an angioplasty surgery three years ago, he continued to face health complications till his last.
Born on June 10, 1958, in Joginder Nagar town of Mandi district, Sharma started his career with the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in 1985. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh while working with NHPC in Chamba and later also became the vice-chairman of Himachal Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation.
An active RSS member, Sharma used to call himself PM Modi’s ‘Sudama’ (a childhood friend of Hindu deity Krishna). In 2014, he surprised everyone when he won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, defeating former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh by 39,796 votes. When PM Modi asked him how he had managed to win the Mandi seat, he said it was due to Modi’s blessings.
The Prime Minister tweeted on Wednesday to convey his condolences.
Shri Ram Swaroop Sharma was a dedicated leader, who was always committed to solving people’s problems. He worked tirelessly for the betterment of society. Pained by his untimely and unfortunate demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this sad hour. Om Shanti.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 17, 2021