Harish Chandra Sharma was a Fiji Indian politician who became the leader of the National Federation Party

National Federation Party (Fiji)

The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...

 in 1987 and was the leader of the organisation representing most of the Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, the Shree Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji.

Early life

Sharma was born in Nausori

Nausori

Nausori is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 47,604 at the 2007 census, the most recent to date. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers out of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corridor.Nausori grew up around Fiji's...

, Fiji in 1932. He worked as a civil servant and as an insurance agent before departing for Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 in 1960, where he received the LL.B. from the University of Tasmania

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...

 in 1964. On his return to Fiji he first worked for Sidiq Koya

Sidiq Koya

Siddiq Moidin Koya was a Fijian Indian politician and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party on the death of the party's founder, A.D. Patel, in October 1969, remaining in this post until 1977...

 then for A.D. Patel

A.D. Patel

Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel, was a Fiji Indian politician, farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an independent Fiji, with full racial integration...

, before setting up his own law firm in 1969. He was nominated to the Senate

Senate (Fiji)

The Senate of Fiji is the upper chamber of Parliament. It is the less powerful of the two chambers; it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or veto it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them...

 by the Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Opposition (Fiji)

The post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It did not originate in Fiji but has a long tradition; in British constitutional theory, the Leader of the Opposition must pose a formal alternative to the government, ready...

 in 1970 and remained a Senator until the 1972 general election.

Political career

He was first elected to the House of Representatives

House of Representatives (Fiji)

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

 in 1972 as a candidate for the National Federation Party. He has contested a total of seven elections, without losing any. In 1987 he was chosen as the leader of the National Federation Party. He was instrumental in forming a coalition with the Fiji Labour Party

Fiji Labour Party

The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...

 with the coalition winning the 1987 elections

Fiji election of 1987

General elections were held in Fiji between 4 and 11 April 1987. It was historic in that it marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history...

. He was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs and Information in the month long Government of Timoci Bavadra

Timoci Bavadra

Timoci Uluivuda Bavadra was a medical doctor who served for one month as the second Prime Minister of Fiji in 1987 and who founded the Fiji Labour Party....

, which was deposed by Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka

Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, OStJ, is best known as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. He was later democratically elected the third Prime Minister, serving from 1992 to 1999...

.

He re-entered Parliament in the 1994 general election, representing the Malomalo North/Nadi Rural Indian Constituency and served as Deputy Leader of Opposition under Jai Ram Reddy

Jai Ram Reddy

Jai Ram Reddy is an Indo-Fijian statesman, who has had a distinguished career in both the legislative and judicial branches of the Fijian government...

 until 1999. In 2007 we was made a life member of the Fiji Law Society. At present he resides in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...