Sharma's candidature for a seat on the Fremont City Council in California has been endorsed by Congressman Mike Honda, Congressman Pete Stark, state Senator Liz Figueroa, and Assemblyman John Dutra -endorsements that have brightened his prospects.
Four persons are contesting for the two seats for which elections are being held this year. There are some 85,000 voters in the district, and a candidate needs around 20,000 to win.
The Indian community is sizeable in Fremont, but eligible voters in the region number only around 4,000. Though Sharma is a Democrat, this election is non-partisan. Sharma, a member of the Fremont Planning Commission, says he has a good chance to win as he has got support from several groups and endorsements from most of the state leaders. He believes his work as a community activist will bring him an advantage. He has, he says, spent countless hours delivering meals to the hungry through the Meals on Wheels programme and has worked to raise thousands of dollars for the Tri-City Homeless Coalition.
"I decided to run because I want to bring city government to our neighbourhoods. I think that is what is missing in Fremont. Residents need to be involved at the initial stages of key city issues," he said. "I am pro-business, and plan to act aggressively to bring good businesses to Fremont. I support affordable housing, preserving our hills, and creating an excellent learning environment in our schools," he told rediff.com
He says he is a people's candidate. "I believe in communication. I will work very hard to bring city hall to each neighborhood, both in good times and bad times. Going to the community and telling them that you are there to listen is very important."
He promises to work to preserve the hills. "I love hills. I'm a long distance runner. I hike on Mission Peak; I have been living in Fremont for 16 or 17 years and running a marathon at least one every year, running and finishing it."
Born in India, Sharma received his doctorate in clinical biochemistry in 1976. In 1977, he and his wife Ranjana, a family physician, left for Japan where Sharma worked at the Research Institute for Nuclear Medicine and Biology in Hiroshima. In 1979, he came to the United States to work at the University of Texas in Dallas. Soon he moved to California to work at Stanford Medical School and University where he stayed for about 18 years.
His last full-time job was at a Caribbean medical school (Saba University School of Medicine in the Antilles) as chairman and associate professor of clinical biochemistry.