Recently, Sharma was admitted in the hospital as the cancerous growth in his mouth had started to affect his lungs. On Tuesday midnight he suffered a heart attack and was put on a ventilator by the doctors. He died at 1.15 am.

Two-time MLA from Rohtas Nagar in East Delhi, Sharma started his political career as a student leader with the NSUI. He was a councillor for two terms — in 1997 and 2002— and Leader of the House in the MCD. In 2003, he contested his first Assembly election from Rohtas Nagar and won a thumping victory. In November 2004, he was elected as Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief.

Sharma’s political career is marked with a meteoric rise and controversial face off with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

He made things difficult for her by maintaining that the party, not the government was supreme. Despite a clear divide in the Delhi unit between his and Dikshit’s groups, he was re-appointed as DPCC president in July 2005. He remained at the helm of affairs till 2007, when J P Agarwal replaced him.

In the 2008 Assembly elections, without delivering a single speech due to oral cancer, he won the election from Rohtas Nagar; during the campaign, he was in the US for treatment.

Sharma is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

His body was brought to the DPCC office at ITO at 1 pm, where Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Ambika Soni, Sheila Dikshit, all ministers of the Delhi Cabinet and some BJP leaders were present.

Agarwal said Sharma was a sincere worker and his demise was a loss to the Delhi Congress. Dikshit described him as a dedicated leader.