Satish Sharma - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Satish Sharma is an Indian politician. Representing the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

party, he is a former member of the Union Cabinet in the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. He has been accused in numerous scandals and irregularities in government deals whenever he/his party was in power. Sharma's political career has been boosted by his closeness to both Rajiv Gandhi, and after his death, his wife and the de facto political power center of India, Sonia Gandhi.

Satish Sharma was born on 11 October in Secunderabad

Secunderabad

Secunderabad popularly known as the twin city of Hyderabad is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh north of Hyderabad. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was founded in 1806 AD as a British cantonment...

, a city in the Indian state Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

. Educated at the Doon School with Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

, he was later trained as a pilot in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. In 1991 he was elected to the Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

. From January 1993 until December 1996 he was Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

The Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

(BJP) leadership has protested against the move of the CBI

Central Bureau of Investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...

to close 15 corruption cases registered by it in 1997 based on a complaint filed in January 1996 against Satish Sharma, who allegedly made illegal petrol pump allotments as minister. Former BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley is a prominent Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the largest Opposition party in India...

has pointed to procedural faults in the CBI’s action.

In July, 2001, the CBI found documented evidence of dubious foreign exchange

Foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market is a global, worldwide decentralized financial market for trading currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends...

transactions of Satish Sharma which involve illegal foreign bank accounts and evidence of alleged money laundering

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

.

In 2010, wikileaks cable showed his alleged involvement in bribing MPs to bolster support to crucial vote of confidence on the India-US nuclear deal in the Indian Parliament on July 22, 2008. The cable reveals that just five days before the Manmohan Singh government faced a crucial vote of confidence, Nachiketa Kapur, Sharma's political aide, showed a US embassy employee 'two chests containing cash' that Kapur said was part of a bigger fund of Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) to Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) that the Congress party had accumulated to buy the support of MPs for the trust vote.

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