Kartikeya Sharma (born 14 May 1981) is an Indian politician, entrepreneur, and media baron, currently serving as a Member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament from Haryana. He won by defeating the Congress leader Ajay Maken in a highly contested election on 10 June 2022.[1] Kartikeya is the founder of ITV Media Network, which operates multiple news channels, including those in National, English, Hindi, and 7 regional languages, along with print newspapers such as the Sunday Guardian, Daily Guardian, and Aaj Samaj.[2]

Kartikeya Sharma
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
2 August 2022
Personal details
Born (1981-05-14) 14 May 1981 (age 43)
NationalityIndian
Spouse(s)Aishwarya Sharma
(m. 2011–present)
Parents
RelativesManu Sharma (brother)
Kuldeep Sharma (father-in-law)
Occupation
  • ITV Media network (Founder)
Known forIndia News
NewsX
The Sunday Guardian
Aaj Samaj

Personal life

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Sharma was born to politician Venod Sharma and Shakti Rani Sharma on 14 May 1981.[3] He is married to author and professor Aishwarya Sharma (daughter of Indian National Congress politician Kuldeep Sharma, former speaker of Haryana Legislative Assembly[4][5]) since 2011. On April 24, 2023, Sharma had a road accident on the Western Peripheral Expressway while returning to Gurugram from a Parshuram Jayanti program in Charkhi Dadri.[6] In accordance with his affidavit, Kartikeya Sharma declares ownership of assets exceeding Rs 387 crore.[1]

Political career

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Kartikeya Sharma is elected to Rajya Sabha in 2022 Rajya Sabha elections.[7][8] Kartikeya Sharma was part of a parliamentary delegation, headed by Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh. The delegation attended the 145th assembly of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, from October 11 to 15, 2022.[9][10] In December 2022, he attended the Shri Parshuram Mahakumbh organised in Karnal.[11][12]

Business

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Kartikeya Sharma completed his Bachelor of Business Administration from King's College London. In 2007, he founded ITV Media. He launched a series of regional TV channels under India News; by 2015, India News managed five regional channels that covered Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand.[13]

Later on, Sharma acquired, through ITV Media, English language news channel NewsX.[14][15] He entered the print media with the acquisition of The Sunday Guardian, an English language Sunday newspaper, and Aaj Samaj, a Hindi language daily newspaper.[15][16][17] He has also been involved with News Wire Services, an Indian TV news wire service.[18]

Kartikeya Sharma is the Owner of Picaadily Hotels, Which Along With Hyatt owns a Range of Properties in Delhi and Parts of Haryana and Punjab. In 2015, Sharma set up Pro Sportify with Ashish Chadha, CEO of the Sporty Solutionz, a company that runs the Pro Wrestling League.[19][20][21]

Awards

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Kartikeya Sharma got the Champions of Change Award 2022. He also won the award for the Best CEO of the Year at the 2016 eNBA Awards.[22][23] He was honoured with Person Of The Year Award by the Businessworld in 2022.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Sharma, Pawan (11 June 2022). "Who is Kartikeya Sharma? Ajay Maken lost to the media baron in RS polls". Hindustan Times.
  2. ^ "Kartikeya Sharma: The media baron and son of a veteran politician who toppled Congress". Indian Express. 11 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Kartikeya Sharma Director profile". allcompanydata.com. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Karnal gears up for mega wedding today". www.timesofindia.com. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  5. ^ Singh, Anita (22 November 2011). "Karnal gears up for mega wedding today – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  6. ^ Karmakar, Debashish (24 April 2023). "Rajya Sabha MP Kartik Sharma, driver hurt in accident on KMP e-way". Hindustan Times.
  7. ^ "Who is Kartikeya Sharma? Ajay Maken lost to the media baron in RS polls". Hindustan Times. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Newsmaker | Kartikeya Sharma: The media baron and son of a veteran politician who toppled Congress". The Indian Express. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Among Thousands of Global Parliamentarians, India creates History at IPU held in Rwanda". The Sunday Guardian. 15 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Rajya Sabha Dy Chairman Harivansh to lead delegation in Rwanda for 145th Assembly of IPU". ANI News. 9 October 2022.
  11. ^ "2024 में ब्राह्मण समाज से होगा CM चेहरा? आखिर क्या हैं सांसद अरविंद शर्मा के बयान के सियासी मायने". zeenews.india.com (in Hindi). 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Haryana: अगला CM ब्राह्मण हो बयान पर चले सियासी बाण, पहले सांसद भाटिया ने ली चुटकी, फिर CM ने कही ये बात". www.amarujala.com (in Hindi). 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  13. ^ Sabherwal, Simran; Achhpal, Henna (4 July 2015). "Story of a Media Entrepreneur: Kartikeya Sharma". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Tycoons testing their luck in Haryana". The Hindu. 12 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Quick five with Kartikeya Sharma on NewsX purchase". www.exchange4media.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  16. ^ "ITV to see NewsX get scale with substance". www.mxmindia.com. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Interview: Kartikeya Sharma, Owner, iTV Network". Bestmediainfo.com. 29 December 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Advisory Board". indianewsacademy.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  19. ^ "iTV Network MD Kartikeya Sharma invests in Pro Wrestling League". Indiantelevision.com. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  20. ^ "Now, a pro wrestling league in India". www.livemint.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  21. ^ "We will be launching India News Business by next quarter: Kartikeya Sharma". www.exchange4media.com. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  22. ^ "iTV Network wins big at the eNBA Awards 2016". NewsX. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  23. ^ Philip Piletic. "Kartikeya Sharma: The Man Behind the Success of ITV Media Network and NewsX". ibm.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Person of The Year Award से सम्मानित हुए सांसद कार्तिक शर्मा". indianewsharyana (in Hindi). 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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