Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himacha Pradesh is turning out to be a battle of prestige for three Rams of the State—Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, former Union Minister who has now again joined Congress—Sukhram and the sitting BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma.
Mandi will go to polls along with three other parliamentary seats of the hill state on May 19.
The BJP has already renominated its sitting MP Ramswaroop Sharma, whose candidature was openly supported by the chief minister despite Sukh Ram's grandson Aashray Sharma too vying for the BJP ticket from Mandi.
With Sukh Ram joining Congress with his grand son on Monday, the Congress will most probably give its ticket to Aashray Sharma.
Mandi being the chief minister's home district, ensuring Ramswaroop Sharma's victory there will be a matter of personal prestige for Thakur.
On the other hand, Sukh Ram too will leave no stone unturned to get his grandson win this seat. Ninty-one-year-old Sukh Ram, the former Union telecom minister in P V Narasimha Rao-led Congress government, has represented Mandi thrice in Lok Sabha - in 1984, 1991 and 1996.
Sukh Ram's grandson Aashray has already been electioneering in Mandi for weeks, even before joining the Congress.
Interestingly, Sukh Ram's son and Aashray's father Anil Sharma is currently the power minister in Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in Himachal.
Sukh Ram joining the Congress along with his grand-son has left his son Anil Sharma's political career as a minister in Himachal's BJP government in quandary. He may soon face the dilemma whether to leave the Cabinet and campaign for his son Ashray Sharma, or stay put with the BJP and cheer for the party's Mandi candidate Ramswaroop Sharma.
Anil Sharma has been elected as MLA for four times so far and was also a minister during Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government in the state from 1993 to 1996 and from 2013 to 2017.
Sitting BJP MP Ramswaroop Sharma had won the seat by a margin of nearly 40,000 votes in 2014. He had secured 3,62,824 votes in 2014, defeating Congress candidate and Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh, who had got 3,22,968 votes.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur claimed that the entry of Sukh Ram in Congress would not make difference in the victory. "BJP would win with a bigger margin," he said.
Whe contacted, state BJP chief Satpal Satti said Congress ticket to grandson of Sukh Ram would have no impact on BJP.
Sukh Ram had changed loyalties with Congress four times during the past 20 years.
In reply to a volley of questions at a news conference, Jai Ram Thakur made no adverse comments against Sukh Ram or his members of family and added that the character, credibility and patriotism of BJP workers was beyond question.